Lynn Loud and the (Not So) Reluctant Werewolf
by Thefoxmage
Summary: When a ghoulish customer decides to start the Monster Marathon foot race, but cannot get a werewolf to participate, he decides to make his own. His target: young athlete Lynn Loud Jr. Set in the same universe as Lincoln Loud and the Ghoul School.
1. Chapter 1

_AN: A new story series, this time starring Lynn Loud. Most of my Loud House stories have been focused on Lincoln, so I thought it was time to change things up. He'll still be here, but he'll be playing a more minor role, as this story happens in the same canon as Lincoln Loud and the Ghoul School. Anyway, it's a short first chapter, but (hopefully) sets things up nicely. If you like the idea and where it may be going, let me know in the review section and I will keep it rolling. Thank you and enjoy the story._

* * *

Seeking Racers

Deep in the darkest corners of Transylvania, an old, moldy manor house surrounded by a cemetary lay. The roof was missing many shingles, most of the windows were broken, the shutters flapped and snapped in the wind, and the grass was overgrown. One would make the assumption that no one lived there for ages. However, one would be wrong. Standing outside the house, in front of a rusted mailbox, was a bald, young ghoul with a long, crooked nose and a goatee on his sunken chin. He was wearing a gentleman's lounging robe, fine pants, and dress shoes as he paced about on his front porch. "Come on….it should have been here by now…" He grumbled, looking at the watch on his pale wrist. The moment he said that, a gargoyle in a mail carrier's hat landed on the gravel path leading to his door. "What took you so long?" He chastised the winged, stone creature.

"You try flying when you're made entirely of granite and see how quick you fly…." The courier growled in return, handing the ghoul a stack of letters. The undead being hastily swiped them from his grip and started rifling through them. "...yer welcome...creep." The gargoyle turned his back on the rude customer and flew off. Meanwhile, the ghoul's face twisted into a big grin as he came across a big envelope.

"This is it! The letter from the Bank of Transylvania!" He declared as he tore the envelope open quickly and gazed upon the message inside.

To Cerano Rotters,

After thoroughly analyzing your proposal to initiate the "Monster Marathon", in tribute to the once great "Monster Road Rally", we are in agreement that this is an excellent idea. Transylvania needs an event it can call it's own, and this would be a grand opportunity for the monster youth. We have approved your loan and, as such, enclosed the check for your loan with this letter. We expect great things from you and your "Monster Marathon", Mr Rotters. Not the least of which being the return on our investment.

Sincerely, First National Bank of Transylvania

Razortooth Thrasher, President

"Yes!" Cerano cheered as he jumped for joy. "I knew it! I knew it! I knew they would approve of the race! This is so exciting, I could just go all to pieces...but not right now. NOW, I need to set up the race. I need to find a venue, advertising, a time slot on television, live streaming...and of course, finding the participants." He listed off as he returned his old mansion. He made his way to his cobweb and dust covered study, where he parked himself at his desk. "Let's see….who could I ask to join the race? I'll certainly want as many monsters represented in the marathon...I know my cousin Zeral will want a part of this. That covers ghouls and zombies…" He said to himself as he opened a dusty scroll and started to write the name down. As he worked, a billow of smoke started to fill the room, but faded quickly to reveal a man with a pale face, slick black hair, slightly pointed ears, and wearing a fancy black suit and cape. He leered at the back of Cerano as he stepped forward.

"Vell now...is vhat I hear true?" The man asked, in a somewhat angry tone. The ghoul jumped and turned to see who had spoken. Upon seeing the intruder, he chuckled a bit.

"Well, isn't this an honor? What brings you to my humble abode, Count Dracula?" The pale skinned, young undead man asked as he rose from his seat.

"Cease the pleasantries, Mr Rotters. Is. Vhat I heard. True?" Dracula repeated himself slowly, crossing his arms in front of him.

"Well, if you heard a devilishly handsome stiff lived here, then yes." Cerano joked, further irking the vampire.

"Is it true you're planning on starting the Monster Marathon race?" The lord of the vampires asked, his patience thinning.

"Ah. Yes, you heard right there, Drac." The undead man said with a nod. "As a tribute to your incredible Monster Road Rally, as I'm sure you-"

"And how, exactly, do you plan on running this race, Mr Rotters?"

"Well, I'm taking a lot of inspiration from you, Count." Cerano admitted with a crooked smirk. "It's going to be a foot race across the scenic fields of Transylvania, with a contestant from as many monster species as are willing to participate, which will include the original monsters-"

"Including a verevolf?" Dracula asked.

"Naturally, Vlad." Dracula bared his fangs at Cerano as the ghoul had the nerve to address him by his first name. "I mean, what kind of monster race would it be without one?"

"...listen carefully to me, Mr Rotters." The Count said, keeping his cool as he stepped right up to the rotting gentleman. "I don't like you. Not one bit. However, I do like your idea and I do vant to see it succeed. So I am going to give you a simple piece of advice for your race: Don't make the same mistakes I did." He warned him.

"Haha. Come on, Vlad-"

"You. Vill. Address. Me. With. Respect." The vampire warned him in a slow, low and dangerous voice.

"Gotcha, Vlad." Cerano responded, doing that to purposely get his goat this time. "But I'd say I've already improved on your idea. The odds of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars in damages are significantly lower with a foot race." He explained. "After all, wasn't THAT was nearly ruined you, and brought an end to the road rally?" Dracula could feel his face heat up with his anger, which seemed to amuse the arrogant ghoul before him.

"Do not say I didn't varn you, Mr Rotters…" The Count growled, swishing his cape as he transformed into a bat and flew off.

"See you around, Vlad." He called out as Dracula vanished into the night. "Crusty old geezer...to think I thought he was cool once." Cerano shook his head as he sat back at his desk. "Let's see...where was I? Oh yes. I'm pretty sure Medusa has a daughter with interest in track and field…"

* * *

Two weeks later, and Cerano found himself flooded with letters from all the monster youngsters (or more specifically their parents) he had invited to participate in the Monster Marathon, and he had to admit he was pleased. The turnout was rather impressive, he thought, as he looked over his list. "Let's see...a ghoul, a gorgon, two witches (though they're not technically monsters), a vampire, a mummy...no werewolf yet." He commented, but he smiled as he looked to the letters. "But I've invited numerous werewolves to run in the race. Surely one of them wants to race." He said to himself as he started opening letters. "Let's see….from the parents of Reginald F. FangFace….they have a prior engagement." He shrugged as he chucked the letter into the fire. "Should have known...the parents of Patricia 'Lone Wolf' Von Ripper...Patricia broke her leg? Tragic…." His spirits started to drop as he opened rejection after rejection letter, until he reached the last one. "...from the parents of Winnie the Werewolf. Ah. Daughter of the original Wolf Man. How can they-" He started to ask as he opened the letter and all he saw was a big NO. "...How is this possible?" The thunderstruck ghoul asked as he slumped in his seat. "...but I promised the people a race with each of the original monster species present...what am I going to do!?" He asked no one in particular.

He covered his sunken in eyes with one hand as he groaned, kicking something round and hard under his desk as he leaned back in his chair. "Eh?" Cerano straightened up and looked under the desk. "Hey...my old crystal ball." He said, pulling the glass sphere up where he could see it. "Hmmmm...I wonder if it still works…" He set the ball down on the surface of the writing desk. "Mystic orb, hear my plea. I need to find a werewolf, and do it quickly." He chanted, waving his spindly fingers over the ball. It started to fog up on the inside, before showing an image to the undead man.

* * *

Thousands of miles away, in the town of Glenvale, a track and field competition was being held between Glenvale Middle School, and Royal Woods Middle School. It had been a fierce competition and each school had won an equal number of events. It had come down to the final event: The mile run. Ten runners (five from each school), were getting warmed up at the starting line. One of which, wearing a red and white jersey with the number 1 on the front and back, was Lynn Loud Jr. She grinned as she herself ready and psyched up. Some athletes would crack under the kind of pressure she was under. Lynn, however, thrived on it, or at least that is what she would tell people. Sitting among the stands of spectators, was her very large family, including her parents, brother, and nine sisters, along with her grandfather, Albert. "You got this, Lynn!" came the voice of a young man with short black hair from the Royal Woods bench. The ponytailled athlete turned and grinned at the boy who had cheered for her. His name was Francisco; friend, team mate, and Lynn's (not so) secret crush. She waved to him before turning away, her cheeks bright red.

"It's all you, sport!" Her father, Lynn Sr, called from the stands.

"Go get them, Lynn!" Her brother, Lincoln, cheered. Lynn smiled a bit at him. Her brother had come all the way from Grimwood's school just to see her run. Granted, he had a way of teleporting between there and home, but it still felt just a bit more special to Lynn.

"Runners, on your mark!" The race official called as he prepared his stopwatch. All ten contestants moved to their blocks on the starting line, getting into position. "Get set." Each one had the steely look of determination in their eyes."GO!" A huge cloud of dust was kicked up as all ten runners sped off at the word go. Lynn took an early lead as she sprinted right to the front, her eyes focused on the track in front of her. However, one of the runners from Glenvale was starting to catch up with her.

"You're not winning this time, Royal Woods!" The red headed girl who had finally caught up to the sporty Loud said with a sneer as she looked at her.

"Think so?" Lynn asked unconcernedly as she picked up the pace and outsped her, much to her opponent's shock.

 _You think you got me? Don't make me laugh._

 _I'm not even warmed up. Just clear the path._

 _Lynn Loud is here, just get out of my way._

 _Cross my path and I'll make you pay._

 _The name's Lynn Loud and I'm here to win!_

 _To take any less than first would be a sin!_

 _This race was over before it could begin!_

 _The name's Lynn Loud and I'm here to win!_

Lynn was feeling pretty confident in her chances for victory, until two Glenvale runners sprinted by her, one of them bumping into her hard in passing. "Hey! Oh, that's how you want to play, huh!?" She called out, her stride not being broken.

 _In Lynn Loud, Royal Woods can trust!_

 _Try and take me down? Eat my dust!_

 _Your chances at victory just went bust!_

 _Shoulda stayed in bed and not been fussed!_

 _The name's Lynn Loud and I'm here to win!_

 _To take any less than first would be a sin!_

 _This race was over before it could begin!_

 _The name's Lynn Loud and I'm here to win!_

She slipped right past the two and kicked it into overdrive as she approached the finish line with a big grin on her face. Nothing stood between her and first place. It was all hers. Her family and friends were all cheering loudly for her as she sped toward the finish line, crossing it in a blur of red and white and going on for several yards more before she skidded to a stop, thrusting her arms up in celebration.

* * *

"Hmmmm. The kid's good." Cerano commented as he watched the race from his crystal. "She would be a fine addition to the Monster Marathon. Pity she isn't a monster…." He tapped his smooth forehead for a moment before he grinned. "At least...she isn't yet…." He stood up and bolted for the front door, exchanging his robe for a sport coat before making tracks down the gravel path.

* * *

"...and that's my situation, Dr Jeckyl." He explained to a tall, sophisticated looking man in a purple suit, complete with a purple top hat, and a monocle on his eye nearly an hour later, on the front porch of the good doctor's estate. Originally, he lived in London, but after his scientific accident, he had move to Transylvania; where both he and his alter ego, Mr Hyde, could live without persecution and without seriously hurting someone. "I need a werewolf for my marathon."

"Hmmmmm." Dr Jeckyl pondered his problem for a moment. "That is a bit of a predicament...but why come to me, Mr Rotters? I'm no werewolf."

"No, Doctor, but you are a man of science. Surely you have some idea of how I can create a werewolf for the race, short of hiring one to attack someone."

"Yes...that wouldn't go over well if you did...come inside and let me think a moment…" He said, allowing the ghoul into his home. Cerano looked around and frowned slightly. The living room, filled with victorian era furniture, was a little too clean for his taste. He prefered to be surrounded by dust and cobwebs, whenever possible. "Now then...creating a werewolf...well, I suppose the quickest way, without harming the subject, would be to inject them with lycanthrope infected blood." The doctor reasoned. "It would have the similar desired effect, without the mess, physically at least. Legally, it would still be very frowned upon…."

"It's a chance I'm willing to take, Doctor...would you happen to have any infected blood on hand?" The ghoul asked hopefully.

"Of course. I make a note of studying blood samples of all monster types...but no, you cannot have any." Dr Jeckyl said, anticipating Cerano's next question.

"Come on, Doc….this is important." He pleaded, his thin fingers interlocked. "Think of what this can do for Transylvania."

"Think of what purposely infecting someone, a child no less, with lycanthrope will do. I'm sorry, but I am morally opposed to the idea." The good doctor said firmly, crossing his arms in front of him.

"...suit yourself, Doc…" Cerano replied grumpily as he stood up. "But before I go...I'd like a second opinion…."

"A second opinion? From wh-" Before he could finish his sentence, Cerano jumped him and knocked him to the ground. He might not have looked it, but the ghoul was pretty strong. He forcefully reached into Dr Jeckyl's coat and pulled out a vial with a murky gray liquid inside. "No….no, you wouldn't….."

"Time to take your medicine, Doc…." Cerano taunted before he force fed the serum to him. Upon making him swallow it, he quickly moved off the doctor as he twitched and convulsed on the floor. His body grew in mass, he became much hairier, his teeth became sharper and his eyes looked quite mad. He leapt to his feet and grinned at the undead man before him.

"Cerano! Long time no punch!" Mr Hyde declared.

"Evening, Mr Hyde. Let's forget your usual greeting for a moment. I have a proposition for you." Cerano said quickly, holding up his hands and somewhat regretting his decision.

"I'm listening…."

"I have need of some of Dr Jeckyl's lycanthrope infected blood. Fetch me a sample, and I'll cut you in on the profits from the Monster Marathon." Cerano offered with a smirk.

"Bah. I don't need money. I'm already rich as all get out!" Mr Hyde snapped. "However...it would really tick the Doctor off...and cause a lot of trouble...why not? I'll get you some of that blood." Mr Hyde stomped off down into Dr Jeckyl's lab, snickering as he descended the stairs. Moments later, he returned with a corked vial of blood. "Here you go. What exactly do you need it for?"

"I need a werewolf for the marathon, and I found this impressive young athlete who would be perfect to join. However, she's only human...but I plan to change that."

"Ooooooh. You're asking for a LOT of trouble…" Hyde said, snickering madly, but then his expression changed to that of horror. "...Dracula won't hear about this, will he?"

"You're still afraid of that guy? Pfft. Vlad's a hasbeen. He's grown soft. Let me worry about him. You just worry about Dr Jeckyl. I don't want him ratting me out."

"Ha! He won't even remember anything when we change again." Hyde waved off his concern with a barking laugh. "Hey, how about a good luck punch!? For old time's sake?"

"I don't think….OW!" Cerano winced in pain as Mr Hyde slugged him in the arm, not even waiting for his response. "...thanks for that…" He grumbled sarcastically before he made a quick exit from the house. "Well, that's one piece of the puzzle...I have the blood...now I just need someone to inject it into that girl….and I think I know just the two to help me."

* * *

"I'll just position my kobold darter right here…" Said a hunchbacked man in a blue and gold striped shirt, gray pants and brown shoes. His hair was short, black and well kept, like his tiny mustache. He smirked a bit as he adjusted his monocle, moving a card on a paper mat made to look like a battlefield in front of him. Across from him was another hunchbacked man in a green and light blue shirt. He had very little hair on his head and his large tongue was sticking out of the side of his mouth. They were both sitting on front of a modest, but creepy house in the Transylvanian countryside, with a lawn of dead grass under them and a spiked, wrought iron fence around the property "And have him attack your Coven Mistress." He grabbed some dice and rolled them on table between them. "Ah blast. A miss...very well, Crunch. Your move."

"Blokay." Crunch replied through his tongue. "Bli bove bly blark lich…" He stated, shifting the card labeled dark witch across the battlefield. "...bland she blattacks your blaster." He declared, pointing at his opponent's leader card.

"I say...quite the gambit, old boy." The mustachioed hunchback commented. "But it is your call. Roll the dice." Crunch grinned as he rolled the dice across the mat.

"Blah ha! Blwo hits!" He said, spraying spittle as he spoke.

"Blast! You slew my Dragon Speaker...well played, old boy. Finest game of Conjurers Conflict you've ever played."

"Blanks, Blunch."

"Anytime, old bean. Well now, that's twenty games to you, and twenty for me." Brunch commented as he checked the score.

"Ah. There you two are." Cerano called as he pushed open the gate and strolled onto their lawn. "The Legendary Hunch Bunch."

"Ah, Mr Rotters. Good day to you." Brunch said in salutation. "Care to join us in the next game? It's Crunch's pick."

"Perhaps another time. I actually have a job for you two." He told them.

"Bla job?" Crunch asked, turning to look at the ghoul.

"Quite. You see, I'm starting up the Monster Marathon-"

"Ah yes. I've heard of that. If I had a hat, I would tip it to you for that." Brunch interjected. "It would be quite a boost to the community."

"-indeed. However, I find myself short a werewolf, and-" Cerano once more found himself interrupted, this time by Crunch blowing a raspberry at him.

"I must concur with my associate here. That phase of our lives in ancient history." Brunch added with a frown.

"Come on...at least hear me out." The bald headed ghoul said, looking annoyed.

"...go ahead."

"Thank you. Now then, I am in need of a werewolf for the marathon." Cerano said, standing beside their table, between the two hunchbacks. "As none of the werewolves I invited could make it, so I will need to make one. I have the means to do it. I just need you two to bring me the girl who is to become a werewolf."

"Very well. We heard you out. However, our answer remains the same. We are retired, Mr Rotters. Our time as henchmen is long since over, after our previous master fired us." Brunch told him. "So I'm afraid you'll have to find someone else to do your kidnapping dirty work."

"Now now...who said anything about kidnapping?" Cerano asked with a chuckle, deciding it was time to change tactics. "I'm not asking you to kidnap her. Just bring her here. Two guys with your brains, I'm sure you could find a way to get her here and make it seem like her idea." Brunch could tell that the ghoul before him was just buttering him up, but he did take a moment to consider what he said. "Plus, I would be willing to pay you both handsomely for it."

"Hmmmmm. So you are saying you want us to convince this young lady to come to Transylvania and LET you turn her into a werewolf?" The sophisticated hunchback asked with a raised eyebrow. "Have you considered simply not having a werewolf in the race?"

"Brunch….I promised everyone that all the core monsters would be there." Cerano explained, his tone becoming sadder. "Everyone is really looking forward to seeing that...especially the kids. You don't want to disappoint the kids, do you, Brunch?" The hunchback sighed, holding the bridge of his nose. The whole 'think of the children' bit wouldn't work on him, but his partner on the other hand...Crunch was already getting teary eyed as he started blubbering.

"Blooh hoo hoo….Come bloon, Blunch….blor the kids….." The mumbling monster pleaded, putting his hands together.

"I know we are going to regret this…." Brunch grumbled to himself before he said. "Very well, Mr Rotters. We will take this job….on three conditions. First: we are to be left to our own devices in bringing the child here."

"Done." The ghoul replied.

"Two: We don't want anyone to know of our involvement in this. Least of all Count Dracula."

"You have nothing to fear from old fangface." Cerano said with a chuckle. "I'm not afraid of him."

"Then you are not only a fool, but the only one as well." Brunch told him. "And third, we are only meant bring the girl here and change her. From there, you're on your own. Am I clear?"

"As you wish, you two. Getting her here is all I really need."

"Very well. It seems we have a deal." Brunch said, holding his hand, which Cerano enthusiastically shook.

"Excellent. You leave for Michigan tonight, at midnight." He told them with a smirk.

"Naturally. Now, if you'll excuse us…." The well spoken monster man turned back to his identical friend. "Which game would you like to play next, Crunch?" Cerano didn't stick around long enough to hear Crunch answer, a contented smile on his face as he strolled away from the Hunch Bunch and their retirement cottage. All was starting to come together now. Soon enough, he would have his Monster Marathon, complete with the key essential monsters. He would show Dracula how it's truly done.


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: Just a quick note to explain something everyone has been asking. This story will be set after the Sigmund arc in Lincoln Loud and the Ghoul School, but I will avoid making any references to it until I finish it._

* * *

Bait and Switch

Inside the Loud House, a few days later, it was a lazy afternoon for everyone involved. Lori and Leni had gone off to the mall, while Luna played a harmonica in her room. Luan was watching some cartoons with Lola and Lana, laughing their heads off at the animated hijinx. Lucy was doing some meditation in her room, and even Lisa was taking a break from science, listening to some rap music on her bed. With a rare, more peaceful day, Rita and Lynn Sr were enjoying a little time to themselves in the backyard; with Rita doing a little gardening and Lynn Sr practicing his cowbell. The only one not enjoying the lazy afternoon was Lynn Jr. The active athlete was growing frustrated at the lack of anything to do. "Ugh! I am so bored…" She complained to her roomate Lucy, laying on her back on her bed. When the gothic Loud didn't respond, she continued. "I've done all my basic exercises, no one will play catch with me, I've got no events today….I've got nothing to do…." It was at this point that Lucy had heard enough, knowing her roommate wouldn't stop until someone said something.

"You could go for a walk." Lucy suggested in a monotone.

"Don't feel like it…." Lynn responded flatly.

"You could join Luan, Lana and Lola."

"And watch kiddy cartoons? Hard pass…"

"You could do your homework…."

"Leave the jokes to Luan."

"Sigh….are you sure you don't want to go for a walk?" Lucy inquired.

"Positive. Why?" Lynn turned her head to look at her roommate as she hopped off her bed.

"Then I shall. See you later, Lynn." She said with clear annoyance in her voice. After she left, she sighed again. While she was really annoyed, deep down, she knew she couldn't blame her too much. Her older sister was the active sort; she needed more exciting activities to be amused. However, her complaining about how there was 'nothing to do' when there were things she could do (but chose not to), got on her nerves. She felt she could probably meditate in Lincoln's treehouse; should be relatively peaceful up there. As she stepped out the front door and over to the tree in the front yard, she spotted something out of the ordinary for Royal Woods. Two similar, yet different hunchbacked men wandering down the street. One had greasy black hair and a monocle, while the other was almost bald and had his tongue sticking out. They both wore striped shirts (one blue and gold and one green and blue) with brown pants and brown shoes. They were staring intently at the monocle wearing one's phone.

"Mmhmmm. Yes, I think this is the place, old boy." Brunch commented as he looked up from his phone at the Loud House. "How quaint."

"Bleah. Blaint." Crunch blathered.

"Gentlemen…" Lucy said softly in greeting.

"Ah. Good day, young lady." Brunch replied politely, with a british accent that surprised her. "Always so nice to see such polite young ladies in this day and age. Tell me...are your parents home?"

"Yes." Lucy answered, though she would have said so even if they weren't. She was no fool.

"Excellent. We were hoping to have a word with them. Thank you so much. Ta ta for now."

"Bleah. Blah Ta." Crunch added before the two of them walked up the way to the front door. Lucy raised an eyebrow under her bangs as she scaled the ladder to the tree house. She had a feeling she'd need to keep an eye on those two.

"Ok, Crunch. Just let me do the talking and everything should go smoothly." Brunch whispered to his associate as he rang the doorbell, only to suffer a mild electric shock. "Gah! Good word, what was that!?"

"I'll get it!" Came the voice of Lori from behind the door. The hunchbacks heard the door lock click and the door slowly open. "HellAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Upon seeing the Hunch Bunch at the door, Lori screamed and fell back, crawling away from them like Leni would from a spider.

"I say….was that really necessary…?" Brunch commented, looking offended.

"Blo manners…" Crunch babbled, shaking his head.

"Yes, I must concur, Mr Crunch."

"Whoa...what happened to you, Lori?" Lana asked as she climbed over the arm of the couch to see who was at the door. "...cool!" She said as soon as she laid eyes on the hunchbacks at the door.

"Luan...who are those guys…?" Lola asked, her knees shaking as she hid behind the family joker.

"Not sure, but I have a hunch." Luan quipped, getting a groan from Lola and a sigh from the Hunch Bunch. Just then, Lynn Sr and Rita rushed into the living room from the path to the kitchen.

"Lori!? What happened!? We heard you….AH!" Lynn Sr screamed like a little girl at the sight of Brunch and Crunch and fainted right away. Even Rita jumped back in shock.

"Well, now I see where she gets it from…" An indignant Brunch said, folding his arms in front of him.

"Ahem...I'm sorry, sir…" Rita apologized after taking a moment to recover. "We're just...startled…"

"I understand, my dear lady. It is, unfortunately, something we are quite used to. I wish I could say it didn't hurt…" Brunch said, lightly shaking his head.

"...sorry…" Lori said, slowly getting to her feet and looking at Brunch sympathetically.

"...sorry about that, guys. It was real 'spineless' of me to take a jab at you like that." Luan joked.

"...eh, I'll give you that one, young lady." The blue and gold wearing hunchback said with a shrug. "As for the rest of you, anyone with the manners to apologize when they've done wrong is alright by me." He added with a smile, approaching Rita Loud. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Mr Brunch, and this is my associated. Mr Crunch."

"Bleased to bleet you." The monster man with the spitting problem said.

"Er….likewise, Mr Brunch, Mr Crunch. I'm Rita Loud, and this is my husband, Lynn Loud Sr." Rita said as she cautiously shook their hands before kneeling down to rouse her husband from his unconscious state.

* * *

A few minutes later, after the Loud patriarch recovered from his shock, the Loud parents made themselves comfortable on the living room couch, a pot of tea on the coffee table in front of them and the Hunch Bunch in comfy chairs to either side of said table. "Thank you so much for the tea, Mr and Mrs Loud…" Brunch said right after a sip of tea, extending his pinkie as he drank. "...but now, onto business. Our organization is looking for runners to participate in a special, charity race." He started to explain, setting his cup down on the saucer. "We've found a number of fine young athletes willing to participate for the cause, but we're short just one. And from what we've heard of your daughter's reputation, she would be a fine addition."

"You mean Junior?" Lynn Sr asked, though he had to admit that was a rather silly question.

"Junior? Ah. Yes. The young lady shares your name." Brunch said as he put the pieces together himself. "Quite right."

"Someone call me?" Lynn Jr asked as she slid down the bannister downstairs. When she landed right in front of the front door, she looked over at Brunch (the only one of the two hunchbacks she could see). ""Yikes! Where'd Quasimodo come from?"

"Lynn!" Rita snapped disapprovingly.

"Now now, Mrs Loud. To us, that is actually a compliment." The sophisticated monster man said, holding up a hand. "And you must be Lynn Loud Jr." He added as he turned to the rough and tumble girl.

"The one and only." She bragged with a grin.

"Smashing. As you may or may not have heard, we are seeking one last athlete for a special charity race." He told her, putting his fingers together.

"A charity race? As in it's not a competition?" She asked, sounding disappointed.

"Not a serious one, no. We do have prizes available for those who perform the best however."

"Uh...who's we?" Lynn suddenly asked.

"Blello!" Crunch said as he peeked around the side of his own chair.

"WHA!" The sporty loud jumped back in fright, Crunch chuckling a bit.

"Oh, you just couldn't resist, could you, old boy?" Brunch said, shaking his head. "At any rate, all proceeds from the race go to help those with similar...shall we say 'physical differences' such as Mr Crunch and myself."

"A race to help hunchbacks, huh?"

"Lynn…" Her mother said warningly.

"Put simply, yes." Brunch said, keeping a patient, polite aire about him.

"Well, Lynn Loud doesn't shy away from any chance to win a race."

"Hold on a second there, Junior…" Lynn Sr interjected. "Where exactly is this race going to be run?"

"Ah. That may be a bit of a rub right there." The monocle wearing hunchback admitted, his smile fading slightly. "For you see...the race is in our homeland of Transylvania."

"Transylvania!?" The Loud parents exclaimed in unison.

"As in home of Count Dracula, Transylvania!?" Lynn Jr asked excitedly.

"Indeed, though the race would be nowhere near his castle."

"I don't know...I don't think I would be comfortable having one of our children in a foreign country...least of all by herself." Rita commented with a frown.

"As you shouldn't Mrs Loud." Brunch agreed. "We would insist upon the young lady having a parent or guardian present."

"I'm glad you agree, Mr Brunch." Rita said. "Unfortunately, I don't think I can get the time off to travel to Europe…."

"Nor can I." Lynn Sr added, a quiver in his voice. What he said was true, but he was also scared of the prospect of going to Transylvania.

"What about Lori or Leni?" Lynn Jr asked.

"Sorry, Junior, but they're not adults. It's one thing for them to watch you while you're at home, but across the ocean…."

"I once more must agree. You must have a responsible adult present. The law and all that." The verbose hunchback said.

"...er….wait! What about Pop Pop?" She asked. "He's tough, and he's been to Europe before."

"Pop Pop…..I dunno…." Her mother stared down at the tea pot as she thought about this. "Well...we could ask him and see what he thinks…."

"Yeah!" Lynn punched the air in celebration.

"But it probably couldn't hurt to send one of her older sisters with her as well…" Lynn Sr commented, looking up to where the childrens rooms were. "If Albert says yes, that is."

"Might not be a bad idea…" Rita agreed. "Would you excuse me a moment Mr Crunch, Mr Brunch?"

"Of course, Mrs Loud." Brunch said, Crunch nodding as well. The Loud matriarch stood up and stepped outside into the backyard. She pulled out her cell phone and dailed up her father. After a few minutes of waiting….

"Hello?"

"Hello Dad." Rita said with a small smile.

"Rita! You're a voice for sore ears. How are ya doing?" Albert asked cheerfully, clearly glad to hear from her.

"I'm doing well enough, Dad. As is the family." She answered calmly. "How bout you, Dad?"

"I'm doing super. Just steamrollered the competition in shuffleboard." Albert responded with a soft laugh.

"Congratulations. I knew you could do it." Rita smiled with pride, imagining the smile on her father's face. "Uh…part of the reason I was calling, father, was because I wanted to ask you a little favor."

"Sure thing, Rita. What's up?"

"You see...Junior was invited to participate in a charity race, and she's eager to run in it…"

"Good for her. Putting her energy into fun and a good cause." Albert commented approvingly.

"...but the thing is...the race is being held in a foreign country. Transylvania, to be more precise." Rita continued nervously. "Unfortunately, Lynn and I cannot go with her and she needs a chaperone."

"Say no more, dear. I'd be happy to go with her to Transylvania." Albert responded. "Been a while since I've been around that neck of the world. Not since my air force days." He went silent for a moment as he reminisced, before snapping back into reality. "Sorry about that. Anyway, it's just gonna be Sport?"

"We're going to see if one of her older sisters will go with her as well. An extra pair of eyes is always helpful."

"True enough. Well, just tell me when you're coming to pick me up and I'll be ready."

"Thank you so much, Dad. Junior is really looking forward to this race."

"Both you and Junior are welcome." Albert responded. "Uh oh. Sounds like the warden's coming around again." He joked, referring to the head nurse at the retirement home. Rita giggles softly.

"Alright. I'll call you back as soon as we have more details. And thanks again. Talk to you later, Dad. Love you."

"Love you too. Ta ta."

"Good bye." Rita said as her father hung up. She put her phone away and returned to the living room, where Lynn Sr and Jr were joined by Luna. The rockstar had a pensive look on her face as her younger sister pleaded her case, aided and abetted by Brunch.

"...and our organization would be more and happy to take care of your plane tickets as well." Brunch had just concluded, getting the Loud mother's attention.

"Hmmmm. Well….what the hey?" Luna said with a shrug and a smile. "I could use a little dark inspiration for my music, and it'd rock to see my sis run for a good cause."

"Top ho, Miss Luna." Brunch commented with a big smile.

"Say...would you mind if I brought a guest too?" Lynn asked, a slight grin appearing on her face. The sophisticated hunchback considered her request for a moment, rubbing his chin as he did so.

"As long as it is just one guest, why not?" He finally answered.

"Great. I'm gonna ask Francisco if he wants to come!"

"Aren't you jumping the gun a bit, Junior?" Her father asked concernedly. "You don't even know if your Grandfather can chaperone you…"

"Pop Pop is fine with it." Rita chimed in. "I just called him and he said he would chaperone Lynn Jr."

"Yes!" The pony tailled sports star cheered, jumping for joy.

"Well...then I suppose if Francisco's parents are ok with it…." Lynn Sr said.

"Smashing. Now, we'll need you to sign a little paperwork…" Brunch said as his associate placed some papers on the table in front of Lynn Jr.

"Blust sign blere…." Crunch babbled as he pointed to the dotted line on the first page, which the head strong daughter signed almost immediately. "...blere….blere….bland initials blere…"

"Er….Junior...shouldn't you read that before you sign it?" Her father interjected as she penned her name for the second time.

"Don't worry so much, Dad. I read it." She said, mostly to make him feel better. In truth, she only barely skimmed the papers as she put her John Hancock on them.

"Brilliant. Thank you so much, Miss Loud. Your participation will make this a race to truly remember." Brunch said as he took the papers and tucked them away. "We'll have your plane tickets mailed to you by tomorrow. You leave by the end of the week." He finished his cup of tea before hopping off his seat. "Thank you once more for your cooperation. We'll see you in a few days time. Cheerio." He said as he waved to the two girls and their parents

"Bleah. Bleerio!" Crunch added, following his fellow hunchback to, and then out, the front door.

"Well, I dare say that went well, wouldn't you agree, Crunch?"

"Bleah. Blall we blad to blo was blask."

"Sometimes, a few calm words can work wonders, old boy." Brunch patted his barely articulate friend on the hump as the two strolled down the way. "But we're not done yet. We still need to get her to Transylvania and prepare her for the Monster Marathon."

"Monster Marathon?" Lucy asked quietly to herself as she listened from the treehouse.

"Mr Rotters will be thrilled when Lynn Loud arrives. Come Crunch. We must make for the airport and make preparations." The goth girl watched from above as the Hunch Bunch walked down the street, a frown on her face. What were they talking about? And what was that about Lynn? And who is this Mr Rotters? Lucy decided the best place to find these answers would probably be to talk to her sister herself. She quickly climbed down to the lawn and walked her way into the front door. She noticed her parents still in the living room, but no Lynn.

"Mom. Dad. Have you seen Lynn?" Lucy asked in a monotone.

"She just went upstairs. Why?" Her mother responded.

"Just need to ask her a few things." The goth Loud responded. She decided not to cause her parents to worry when there might not be a cause for it. She strolled upstairs and right to her room. Just as she thought, there was Lynn, looking pretty thrilled.

"Lucy! I got great news! I'm headed to Transylvania at the end of the week!" She exclaimed.

"Lucky…" Lucy muttered. "Would this happen to be for a race of some kind?"

"Yeah! Wait...how's you know that?" The sporty girl asked, looking at her inquisitively.

"I heard the two gentlemen who left our house talking about it." She informed her. "They mentioned something about a 'Monster Marathon'."

"Monster Marathon? Must be the charity race name...an extreme race for only the toughest athletes." Lynn theorized aloud, getting even more pumped.

"They also mentioned a name….Mr Rotters." Lucy said.

"Must be the name of their boss, in charge of their charity organization." Lynn answered with a shrug. "Anyway, Pop Pop's gonna take me, along with Luna. And Francisco might be able to come along too." She continued, not giving Lucy a chance to ask more questions.

"...what is the name of their organization?" Lucy asked suspiciously.

"Dunno. Never asked." Her rough and tough sister replied nonchalantly.

"Didn't they have any papers you needed to sign or anything? Surely it had the name on them."

"Just kinda skimmed those papers." Lynn replied, causing her roommate to face palm. "What?"

"Lynn...don't you think this is all rather fishy?" Lucy asked, a little frustrated with the tough girl.

"Don't get your undies in a bunch, Miss Worry Wort. It's fine. I know what I'm doing." She told Lucy in return, rolling her eyes. At this point, Lucy sighed, her patience having run out. She simply turned around and left the room in a huff. However, she wasn't about to give up trying to warn her. She was just attacking from another angle.

* * *

"Huh….I can see where you'd be all shook up, little sis…" Luna said as she sat on the edge of her bed at the top of the bunk bed she shared with Luan. She had a pensive look on her face after Lucy had voiced her concerns to her. "It does seem pretty strange."

"No kidding." Luan agreed, sitting in Luna's bean bag chair with a daily planner in hand. "Hope Lynn hasn't made a 'monster' mistake."

"I'm not saying that Mr Brunch and Crunch are up to something…" Lucy said quietly, looking up at Luna. "...but something about this situation makes me uneasy...which is no mean feat. However, Lynn won't listen to me."

"No shock there, sis. We all love Lynn, but she can be pretty bullheaded sometimes. Especially when it comes to sports." Luna said, hopping down from the top bunk. "She's already signed the paperwork, so there isn't a whole lot we can do right now. Best we can do is keep an eye on things once we get there and bail if things get too hairy."

"...I don't like that plan…" Lucy commented darkly.

"Sorry sis, but my hands are tied."

"What about Mom and Dad?" Luan suggested.

"We don't really have enough evidence that something is up. Just a few bad feelings…" Lucy pointed out, though she hated to admit it.

"Listen, lil Princess of the Night." Luna said, kneeling down to look her pale little sister in the eyes. "Maybe it's nothing, right? Maybe it is just a charity race that happens to be held in Transylvania….but if things do go south, Pop Pop and I will be right there to help her. Every little thing is gonna be alright." She said reassuringly, putting a hand on her shoulder. Lucy looked far from convinced, but still nodded.

"Thank you for listening…" She said flatly.

"Anytime sis." The rock and rock sister replied as Lucy turned and left the room as quiet as she entered. It was then Lucy had an idea. LIncoln! He was dating Count Dracula's daughter. If ANYONE knew if something shady was going on in Transylvania, they would. She ran back to her room and quickly grabbed her phone. Lynn was too busy psyching herself up for the coming race to notice as the vampire enthusiast rapidly typed out a text to her older brother. She didn't expect a quick response; after all, her brother had classes in the afternoon and at night on some days. However, knowing that she at least got the message out there and, hopefully, Lincoln and Sibella may know something, made her feel a little better. Hours later, as she was getting ready for bed, she finally received a reply.

 **It does sound mighty strange to me. You're right Lucy. I had a chance to talk with Sibella about it. She has heard of the two you mentioned in your text. They used to work for her father. They're known as the Hunch Bunch. Pretty harmless from what she told me. However, she agreed to talk with her father as soon as possible, see what he has to say about this Monster Marathon thing. It may take a while; he's a busy vampire after all. I'll let you know as soon as I hear something. - Lincoln**

"Well, it's a start." Lucy said quietly as she thanked her brother before closing her coffin lid.

* * *

As the Hunch Bunch had promised, Lynn's ticket to Transylvania came the next day, as well one for Albert, Luna and Francisco (who somehow managed to get his parents' permission to fly to Transylvania). By Friday, the little athlete was raring to go; she had her bags all packed and was even helping Luna get her stuff together. Lucy watched from the top of the stairs as her two sisters pack Vanzilla, a feeling of apprehension in her gut. She still hadn't heard anything from Lincoln or Sibella, and no news wasn't good news to her. However, this was the point of no return for Lynn. Soon, she was off to the airport with Luna, their father at the wheel. He stopped to pick up Francisco at his house, and Pop Pop from the retirement home before he made a beeline for the airport. "So, you looking forward to the race, sport?" Albert asked as he helped Luna and Lynn empty their luggage from the back of the van.

"You know it, Pop Pop." The sporty Loud commented with confidence.

"Thanks for inviting me, Lynn." Francisco said, smiling at Lynn as he pulled out his own duffel bag.

"Anytime, Franc." She responded with a soft blush, Luna grinning a bit at her.

"So, Pop Pop….You ever been to Transylvania?" The third oldest Loud sister asked her grandfather as they headed for the terminal.

"Once or twice." He said, wheeling his suitcases along behind him. "We dropped by on leave. Not as scary as many would have you believe; least not in the daytime." He related to her, as he thought back to his air force days. "Even got to see Castle Dracula, albeit from a distance. Quite a sight to see. The surrounding village was a little dull, though. It was like no one had any energy or enthusiasm."

"I could change that...if we happened to drop by the area." Luna commented, patting her guitar case.

"OK, everyone. We're headed for gate…..13!?" Lynn screamed out, getting the attention of everyone in the terminal. She started to sweat a bit.

"Whoa...you ok, Lynnsanity?" Francisco asked with concern, noticing the concern on her face.

"Er….yeah. Sorry. Just...stepped wrong." She lied, lamely.

"Hurt your ankle? I could rub it for you if hurts really bad." He offered, making her face go all red.

"Meep! I mean….thanks, but it's not bad" She babbled quickly with a nervous smile.

"You gonna be ok, Lynn?" Luna whispered, moving closer to Lynn on the guise of checking her ankle.

"Yeah...yeah...just gotta remember…just a silly superstition…" The pony tailled brunette said quietly. She has been trying to kick her superstitious habits for the longest time now, but it's been pretty tough for her. Her older sister nodded and patted her on the back with an encouraging smile. Lynn smiled lightly in return and they continued on their way. After going through the extensive security process (being held up at the metal detectors because Lynn forgot to put her lucky rabbit's foot in the tray), they managed to arrive at the gate with ten minutes to spare. Waiting for them with the rest of the passengers waiting to board the plane was Brunch and Crunch, intently focusing on a little game board on the seat between them.

"Let's see….I found your vaporous spirit, and even caught your vengeful wraith...but where did your ludicrous poltergeist go?" Brunch mused aloud, stroking his chin.

"What'cha playing?" Lynn asked as she leaned closer to looking at the little ghost hunter pawn on the mansion map board.

"Ah. Good day, Miss Loud and Miss Loud." Brunch said, looking up from the game and waving to Lynn and Luna. "And who may I ask are you two gentlemen?" He asked, looking at Albert and Francisco, the latter of whom looked a little unnerved.

"Names Albert, Lynn and Luna's Pop Pop. Pleased to meet you." He said, shaking the sophisticated hunchback's hand. He didn't seem at all frightened by the sight of Brunch and Crunch.

"And..I'm Francisco.." The young man said nervously.

"Charmed, I'm sure." Brunch replied. "I'm Mr Brunch, and this is my associated, Mr Crunch."

"Blello."

"And to answer your earlier inquiry, Miss Loud, we were simply partaking in a little game of Hunt the Specters, while we wait for the plane." He explained, returning his gaze to the board.

"Sounds like my little bro's kind of game." Lynn commented with a smirk.

"Really? I love that game." Francisco said, hurrying over for a closer look. "And it's the special edition too." He said, pointing to the finely crafted plastic pieces.

"Good eye, young man. Mr Crunch and I are somewhat connoisseurs of board and card games. A little hobby we started since our retirement."

"Aren't you a little young to be retired?" Albert asked with a smirk.

"I could ask the same of you, good sir." Brunch responded, getting a chuckle out of Albert. "Anyway, Crunch here has hidden his ghosts well...and I only have one move left...let's see…." He narrowed his eyes as he scanned the board. "...where haven't I looked?"

"Well, the obvious place would be in the painting…" Lynn commented, pointing at the big wall painting in the same room as Brunch's pawn. Crunch glared at her, putting a finger to his tongue trying to reach his lips.

"Hence why no one ever uses that spot. Even the most rank amateurs know better than to hide there." The blue and gold wearing hunchback explained. "But I don't have any better moves, so I'll check the painting."

"Bloooooooo!" Crunch groaned, holding his almost bald head. "Blou found bly bloltergeist!"

"Haha. Well played, old boy, but not quite good enough." The big tongued monster man leered at Lynn, who backed away with an apologetic smile.

"Hehe….sorry…"

"Hey, mates. They're starting to board." Luna declared, hoping to defuse the situation. "Let's get a move on."

"Hold up a second." Brunch said as he cleaned up the board, stopping the group as they started to go through the first tunnel to the plane. "That's the way to coach."

"We aren't flying coach?" Francisco asked in surprise.

"Certainly not. You are going to be Mr Rotter's guests, after all, and he insists you travel in comfort. It's first class all the way." He explained to them with a smile.

"Seriously!?" Luna asked excitedly, a big smile on her face.

"Well, that's mighty generous of him." Albert commented. Crunch nods in agreement as he leads them through the tunnel to the first class section of the plane. It was a glorious sight to behold for the kids, and the elderly man. Large, comfy looking seats with plenty of space for them to stretch and relax, and not many people in the cabin to boot. The babbling hunchback led them right to their seats before he went off to get to his seat by Brunch.

"Huh. Who says 13 is always unlucky?" Lynn asked herself quietly as she made herself comfy in the big chair.

"So far, all is going according to plan." Brunch whispered to Crunch. "Once we get to Transylvania, we can implement phase two of our plan. After that, she's Mr Rotter's problem."

"Bleah." Crunch replied. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out another game box. "Blettlers of Blatton card blame?"

"Ah. You know me well, Crunch. I do enjoy a game of Settlers of Catton, whether on the board or in the cards." Brunch commented with a chuckle as his more monstrous counterpart started shuffling the deck. "Strap yourselves in, folks. This is going to be a long flight."

* * *

As Brunch had pointed out, the flight to Transylvania took several hours. So long it was well into the night when they arrived (even with the time difference). The travellers from Royal Woods were all asleep when the plane touched down, the youngest of the two resting their heads against one another, Lynn with a smile on her face. She looked so comfortable and peaceful where she was. It was a shame it had to end right then and there. "Blise and bline!" Crunch exclaimed, causing the Loud sisters, Albert and Francisco to awaken with a start. Lynn Jr and Francisco look at one another and sit up straight, blushing and chuckling a little.

"Ugh….dudes, it's the middle of the night…." Luna commented with a groan.

"Sorry, Miss Loud, but we really must get a move on." Brunch said. "Come come. Our limo is waiting."

"Did you say LIMO!?" Lynn asked excitedly, leaping from her seat. She was the first to zip out of the plane, moving at speeds unheard of for one who had just woken up.

"My word...she does move fast…" Brunch commented quietly to his associate. "I think I see why Mr Rotters wanted to bring her here…" Crunch looked at his friend, looking utterly confused. "Think about it, my friend. He brings her here. Her being an unknown, the odds against her winning would be high. He bets on her, she wins, he wins a tidy fortune."

"Blooh. Bly get it." Crunch sputtered. "Blever…"

"Quite. Perhaps we should consider getting in on that bet..." It takes the rest of the Royal Woods travellers a little time to get up and grab their carry on luggage and disembark the plane, where Lynn was already getting their luggage off the turnstyle in the terminal. With some help from the Hunch Bunch, they were able to bring their things outside to the waiting limousine rather quickly.

"This is so cool…" Lynn said, giddy with joy as she took her seat inside the elongated car.

"It sure is!" Francisco agreed, sitting next to his teammate and admirer.

"Chill a bit, Lynn. It's too early for that kind of energy." Luna said as she slumped into a seat opposite them, next to their grandfather. "Besides, this isn't your first time in a limo."

"Yeah, but that was Lincoln's limo...sort of. This one….this one is mine...kinda."

"...ok. I'll give you that one." The musically inclined of the siblings replied with a chuckle.

"So, when are we headed for our hotel?" Albert asked the Hunch Bunch.

"Soon enough, Albert." Brunch replied. "We just need to head to the hospital for Miss Loud's physical. Simply a formality, for insurance reasons, Miss Loud."

"Hmph. I say I'm healthy enough...but if I gotta…" Lynn complained, looking kind of pouty.

"Hey, it's an important step, sis. Gotta look out for yer health, you know." Luna told her. Lynn grumbled a bit, but didn't say anything else. "Speaking of, you have the copy of Lynn's vaccination history, right, Pop Pop?"

"Right here." Albert replied, patting his pocket.

"Excellent. That will speed things right along." Brunch said.

"So, Francisco….how long have you known my granddaughter?" The white haired man asked the young man across from her.

"Almost a year." He answered, a little nervous in spite of Albert's calm demeanor and expression. "Since I moved to Royal Woods and joined the baseball team. We became fast friends from there." He explained.

"Heh. Finding friends on the field. One of the things I loved about sports." Pop Pop commented with a chuckle. "Back in my day, I used to play some football myself, both in school and during my time in the armed forces. Made a ton of friends there...and quite a few enemies too, come to think of it."

"Super stars like us usually do." Lynn said in a cocky manner, putting an arm around Francisco, making the young man blush. Luna grins at them, but keeps silent as she looked out the window. The sights she saw outside at night were enough to wipe the grin off her face. It looked like something out a horror movie out there: dead trees, crows watching them as they passed, the full moon over head...something flying through the night sky. A witch, perhaps? Considering where they were and the fact they've met a real witch before, she wasn't about to rule it out. The overall creepiest of the scenery was making the bad feelings she had from listening to Lucy grow wild. She tried to calm herself down at the limo stopped in front of the hospital and the Hunch Bunch led them into the reception area. A thin nurse with long, silvery hair sat behind the desk, looking through a file cabinet with her back to them.

"Pardon me, ma'am. We're here for Miss Loud's physical." Brunch announced, needing to stand on his toes to see over the desk. The nurse turned around, revealing herself to be a cyclops, causing the kids to all recoil in shock. She smiles to the lot of them.

"Your timing is perfect. Dr Morbus can see her right away." She replied in an oddly sing song voice. "His office is right down the hall, fourth door to the left."

"G...gotcha. Thanks, nurse…" She said shakily.

"You're quite welcome, sweetheart." The nurse replied as Lynn started down the hall with the copy of her vaccination records in hand. "The rest of you, make yourselves at home. This shouldn't take long."

"Cheers, ma'am." Luna said, looking around at the decor of the reception area. It didn't look that different from hospitals back in the States, though more monster themed.

"Say...have you worked here long?" Albert asked, leaning against the desk. "You look familiar to me."

"I've only started working here recently, after my grandmother retired." She told him as she filed away some paperwork. "My grandmother worked here for years before me, though."

"Maybe it was your grandmother I met when I was here last…" He said, trying to remember. "I remember this pretty young thing behind the desk, when we were bringing in one of my fellow pilots in after a big bar room brawl. Wore her hair so it covered one eye...I think…"

"Hee hee. That was her, alright." The nurse replied with a giggle. "She liked to surprise others with the fact she was a cyclops. I think she might have mentioned that night before...oh yes. The young man from the States had been brought in after he got into a fight with an ogre."

"...that was an ogre? Thought he was just a really big body builder..."

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the doctor's office, Dr Morbus (who was a mantis monster) had just finished checking Lynn's heart. He nodded his insectoid head slightly as he made a mark on his clipboard. "Well, Miss Loud. Everything seems to be just hunky dorey so far." He told her. "Your heart rate is fine, your blood pressure normal, your lungs sound just perfect, and I'm seeing no sign of illness within you."

"Thanks, doc." Lynn said, swinging her legs a bit as she sat on the examination table.

"And it looks like your innoculations are up to date, too." He said, going through her history. "And I see all the chief culprits here...oh dear…"

"What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid you don't have an immunization to Transylvanian Bat Pox." The buggy doctor informed her.

"...say what?" Lynn looked at him in utter confusion.

"Transylvanian Bat Pox. No surprise, really. It's very rare overseas, but it's common as the cold here. It's not deadly, but it is a nuisance and very contagious." He explained to her, putting the clipboard away. "I'm afraid I cannot let you participate without it."

"Man….." Lynn groaned, looking down at the floor.

"Fear not, Miss Loud. The vaccine for Bat Pox is free here. I could immunize you right here and now, and then you'd be all good to go." Dr Morbus informed her.

"You can? Then go for it, doc." She said, rolling up her sleeve.

"Very well. Wait right here. I'll go prepare the vaccine." He told her, stepping into the next room. He dug around in a refrigerator for a moment before pulling out a needle filled with a red, somewhat thick liquid. He felt a moment's hesitation as he looked at the contents of the syringe. He knew darn well what it was and what it was he was about to do, and it was giving him pause for thought. He thought back to when he was brought this needle.

* * *

Flashback to a few nights ago…

"...and that's all you need to do, Doctor." Cerano Rotters said as he handed the giant, sentient mantis the vial of lycanthrope blood. "When she gets here, just tell her she needs to be immunized for...something. I don't care what. Just make sure she gets that in her bloodstream."

"Mr Rotters, this goes against everything I stand for as a doctor!" He said angrily, putting all six feet down. "You cannot expect me to infect a patient!"

"Actually, I do, Doctor Morbus." Cerano responded, looking quite serious. "I NEED a werewolf, and you will help me get one."

"And if I refuse…?" The mantis monster asked with crossed arms, glaring at him. Cerano smirked a bit, placing a briefcase on the doctor's desk. He opened the case and revealed it was filled to the brim with money. Tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of Transylvanian dollars. More money than the doctor had seen in his life.

"Then I guess I'll have to take this money elsewhere. A shame too. This hospital could use a nice, healthy investment, wouldn't you agree?" Dr Morbus looked down at the case of money, his mind in the middle of a terrible battle. The hospital could use some new equipment and this money could be a real boon to them. However, what he was being asked to do was absolutely criminal. Could he really live with himself after doing this? Could he really live if Count Dracula got wind of this. "Don't worry, Doctor. I'll protect you." He added, patting the physician on the back. "No one will suspect. No one will touch you. And it's all for the good of Transylvania. So what do you say? We got a deal?"

End Flashback

* * *

He continued to stare at the vaccine of blood, sweating up a storm. Could he really go through with this? Is it too late to turn back now? He looked toward the door, then back to the vaccine. He sighed to himself before he stepped back into the room, where Lynn was starting to get antsy. "Sorry for keeping you waiting…" He said, almost lifelessly.

"Something wrong, doc?"

"Just...some bad news." He lied. "Don't worry about me. Now...if you would hold out your arm. This won't hurt a bit." Lynn held her arm out nervously, closing her eyes as the mantis doctor rubbed her skin with a bit of alcohol. He hesitated for a moment, the needle pointed right at her arm. He took a deep breath as he injected her with the lycanthrope contaminated blood.

"Hey...I didn't feel a thing, like you said." Lynn said with a soft laugh as he put a band-aid over the place where she was stuck.

"Glad to hear it…" He said, handing her back her vaccination history. "You're good to go for the marathon…"

"Thanks Doc. See you at the winner's circle." She said, hopping off the table and hurrying off to meet with her friend and family in the reception area.

"There you are, sport. Everything alright?" Albert asked, looking away from a magazine he was reading.

"Yeah. Doc said I was missing an immunization, but we took care of it." Lynn told him.

"Missing an immunization? To what?" Luna asked, raising an eyebrow at that news.

"Bat pox, he said." Everything went silent when she said that. Albert, Luna and Francisco looked at one another, clearly suspicious of what they heard. What the nurse said only furthered their suspicions.

"There's no such thing as Bat Pox…"

"What? Then what did….agh!" Lynn fell to one knee, holding her head with one hand and her gut with the other.

"Lynn!" Her grandfather, sister and crush all ran to her side, the nurse hastily calling for a stretcher.

"Gah…...why...do I hurt….all over…?" She asked through her pain.

"What did you do to my granddaughter!?" Albert roared, standing up straight, his face red with rage. As a pair of ghostly doctors ran over with a gurney for Lynn, Brunch held up a hand to stop them.

"There is no need for that. She will be fine in just a moment." He explained calmly. Just then, Lynn started to undergo a transformation: her jaws and nose sprouted out into a snout, her ears grew long and pointed, and her fingernails became sharp claws. A tail popped out from the back of her running shorts and her body started to become much hairier. As soon as the hair stopped growing, she opened her mouth, revealing her teeth were much longer and sharper. The moment the transformation ended, Lynn lifted her head and gave a loud, almost primal howl, which rang through the halls of the hospital.


	3. Chapter 3

Lack of choice

"AAAAAWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Lynn howled loudly, her friend and family stepping back a little from her. The moment the howling stopped, the sporty sister blinked in surprise. "...did...that come from me?"

"Lynn? What happened to you?" Francisco asked, reaching a point of panic.

"What did happen to me?" Lynn inquired, touching her face. Her pupils shrank as she felt the fur on her face. She reached for her ears, her fingers tracing along her now pointy ears. Her hands started to shake as she touched her snout, then her fangs. She could see the fur and claws on her hands and fingers as well. "I….I'm a werewolf!?"

"Quite right, young lady." Brunch told her, just before Luna grabbed the hunchback and shoved him against the wall.

"What did you do to 'er, you bump backed fiend!?" She yelled in his face.

"Luna...please...let me handle this." Albert said, pulling his granddaughter away from him, only to pick up Brunch up by the collar of his shirt. "Now listen here….you're going to tell me what you did to my granddaughter, Lynn...and you are going to do it quick…"

"Now now, Albert, Miss Loud...there is no need for such brutishness. All will be explained when we arrive at Mr Rotters' place." The hunchback said calmly, holding his hands up. "We are but pawns in this little chess game, just like you."

"Then take us to your king before we crown YOU!" Lynn snapped angrily, baring her fangs. Brunch simply nodded calmly as Albert put him down, the hunchbacks taking them out of the hospital. Lynn paused at the entrance to yell back in. "And tell the doc I'll be coming back for him after!" Luna had to pull her younger, hot headed sister out of the hospital and back into the limo. Crunch and Brunch opted to ride up front with the driver, rather than in the back with three angry Louds (one of which potentially violent) and one concerned and frightened young man.

"Lynn...are you alright…..?" Francisco asked nervously. To anyone else, she would have snapped 'Do I look ok!?' However, her feelings for him caused her to take a deep breath and reconsider her words.

"Yeah….I'm ok….other than being REALLY upset about this…..I mean...it doesn't hurt anymore….and at least my fur isn't pink. That's something….I guess."

"I don't get it…" Luna commented, glaring out into space, her arms crossed in front of her. "What's this all about? Why'd they bring Lynn all the way here, just to turn her into a werewolf?"

"Beats me, Luna…" Albert commented, putting his thinking cap on.

"I wonder if it has anything to do with it being the Monster Marathon…" Lynn said out loud. The rock and roll gal's eyes opened wide, right before she smacked herself on the forehead.

"Gah! Why didn't I see that earlier? Lucy even told me it was called the Monster Marathon…" Luna groaned.

"It wasn't your fault, Luna…" Her grandfather pointed out, patting her back. "Who could have predicted this would have happened?"

"Other than Lucy….?"

"Well….yeah…"

"I don't especially care what their reasoning is. When I see this Rotters guy, I'm gonna rip him apart!" Lynn growled loudly, slamming her fists against the chair.

"Whoa. Calm down, sport…" The older man said, motioning her to calm down. However, Lynn was almost frothing with rage and unwilling to listen to reason.

"Lynn….please..." Francisco pleaded, looking pretty frightened. "...you're about to pop a vein. Ease up a little…" He continued, gently patting her on the head. Lynn froze in place when he did that. The athletic young man blinked, then gently patted her head again. Her ears twitched a little and she seemed to relax, much to everyone's surprise. He chuckles a bit and decided to test the waters a bit, scratching her behind the ears. She stiffened up for a moment, but then seemed to melt into the seat, a blush and a look of pure bliss on her face as her ears were scratched. Luna and Albert couldn't help but chuckle and giggle at the sight, with Luna sneaking a quick pic. The click of her camera phone snapped Lynn out of her dream like state. Blushing even more, she moves from under Francisco's hand.

"Please don't do that…." She muttered in an embarrassed manner, while thinking 'at least while my grandpa and sister are looking.' However, it did have the desired effect. She did calm down for the remainder of the ride. They continued to consider what they were going to do when they met this big wig, with Francisco on standby in case Lynn got too hot headed (which fortunately didn't happen). The ride took nearly an hour, with the Loud sisters, Albert and Francisco being over tired and cranky by the time they arrived. The vehicle finally stopped in front of a massive, if somewhat dusty and slightly miskept manor that was as large as the hospital (if not larger), with a graveyard set up in the front yard. The group was too irked and tired to be creeped out or impressed, storming toward the front door with the Hunch Bunch not far behind. Albert took the lead (as the guardian of the crew), knocking hard on the door with his fist, rather than the ornate raven door knocker. After a few minutes, a ghostly butler opens the door, looking down his nose at them.

"Apologies, but the master has forbade handouts and detests salespeople, so kindly be-"

"Listen here, buster! We're not here to beg or sell! We're here to see the big man!" Lynn snarled, baring her fangs. Her show of aggression seemed to have no effect on the spirit.

"Pardon me, good sir, but we are here to see Mr Rotters. You see, Miss Loud here is one of the participants of the Monster Marathon…" Brunch explained, moving up to the front past the angry werewolf. The spectral servant's eyes widened.

"My word...you should have said from the start. Master Rotters is expecting you." The ghost bow his head as he floated back to allow them inside. The three humans and one newly created werewolf all crossed the threshold into the entry hall/living room. The room was massive, even larger than the middle school gymnasium. The floor was mostly dusty hardwood, with a large red and gold rug taking up half the room close to the fireplace, which looked large enough to fit four Lucy's comfortably. In front of the fireplace, where a roaring fire was lit, was some large, cushioned chairs and a few couches. Hanging above the mantle was a massive painting of a gaunt man with a sunken chin, a crooked nose, tight skin and no hair on his head. Flanking the living room set up were a pair of curved stairs, leading up to a second floor balcony overlooking the entire room. To either side of them were large double doors, plus another door under the left most stair. "Please, sirs and madams, make yourselves at home while I get the master…" He said before he faded from existance.

"...pretty swanky set up for a creep…" Luna commented quietly as she looked around the house, looking at an old grandfather clock near one of the chairs.

"Biggest house I've ever seen…." Francisco said with a whistle, looking up at the lit, crystal chandelier overhead.

"Think that guy's this 'master' we're hearing so much about?" Lynn asked, pointing up at the massive painting.

"Probably…" Albert said as he took a seat, sighing a bit. He may be pretty tough and energetic for his age, but he was still getting up there in years and it had been a long day for him.

"...someone needs to eat a flipping burger or something…" She criticized rudely, tilting her head a little.

"I have a preference for buffalo steak, actually." Came a voice from above. The three kids and one elderly man looked up to see Cerano Rotters gazing down at them with a content smile on his face. "Allow me to introduce myself." The ghoul continued, meandering down the stairs. "I am Cerano Rotters, organizer of the Monster Marathon and master of this manor. Well, it is more a summer home for me, but I digress." As he got to ground level, Lynn started to growl with fury, ready to pounce on him. Luna was forced to get between them, despite her own desire to slap the undead man before her senseless. Cerano didn't even flinch at this; in fact, he looked very pleased. "Well done, Hunch Bunch. You've done your job well."

"Indeed. And now, as we agreed, this is where we part ways." Brunch said firmly. "I trust our payment will come promptly."

"Check's in the mail. But are you sure you don't want to see how the event goes? I may have-"

"No!" The hunchback put his foot down, surprising the well off ghoul. "We've done our part, perhaps even exceeded it. You're on your own from here on out."

"Bleah! Blon't call blus! Be'll call you!" Crunch spattered before the two of them turned on their heels and departed from the house.

"Sheesh...all this for a charity race…" Francisco commented with a frown.

"Charity? Is that what they told you?" Cerano scoffed with a smirk. "My dear children, there is no charity involved with this race."

"There isn't!?" Luna and Albert said together, the heavy set grandfather rising from his seat quickly in spite of his tired muscles.

"No. Granted, the race will benefit Transylvania as a whole, but the profits from it belong to me." He explained to them. 'And my investors, but they don't need to know that.' He added in his own head

"Then what's all this about!?" Lynn snapped, trying to get past her older sister.

"Have yourselves a seat and I will explain everything...and might I interest anyone in a drink? Milk? Coffee? Tea?" He offered, but no one present trusted this man, so they (mostly) politely declined. However, they did each sit down on one of the surprisingly cushiony chairs and couch, Luna sitting with her younger sister to keep her in check. "THis story goes back a ways...to the glory days of the Monster Road Rally, hosted by the once most powerful non kaiju monster of all time, Count Dracula…" He strode over in front of the fire, gazing into the flames. "I loved the race. Seeing the monsters, old and new, competing to be called the Monster of the Year. The excitement. The cars. The thrill…however, a few years back, tragedy struck...the race was a disaster and it was brought to an end."

"And what exactly was this disaster?" Albert asked with a frown.

"A mortal was permitted to race." He explained. "And not only was he responsible for causing several car crashes during the race, but he won...and was declared Monster of the Year….the uproar was incredible and Dracula was forced to put an end to it." He sighed as she shook his head, turning to face Lynn. "But his end was my beginning. For years, I carefully studied how Dracula ran the road race, learned from his mistakes and improved upon his methods to create the Monster Marathon, the ultimate monster foot race."

'Then why invite me!? I'm not…." She paused, looking down at her hands. "...wasn't a monster!"

"Indeed. However, I promised that I would include the entire spectrum of the monster race for this iconic first race. Ghosts, zombies, reanimates, vampires, etc. This includes werewolves…"

"Is that why you turned my sister into the Werewolf from Royal Woods!?" Luna screamed. "Why not ask the countless werewolves that are out there!? I know at least two!"

"None of them could attend...but I am a ghoul of my word and couldn't disappoint the people of Transylvania….so I enlisted the help of the Hunch Bunch to help me MAKE a werewolf."

"And so you targeted Lynnsanity!?" Her dark haired teammate asked angrily.

"Of course. One with her athletic skill would generate significant buzz for the Marathon, and make the race more intense."

"Well...I can't argue with THAT fact…" Lynn said with a bit of a chuckle, despite still being ticked off.

"But I couldn't allow a mortal to race...so I had to turn her into a werewolf first. And that brings us to today." Cerano concluded, calm and cool as a cucumber.

"MY granddaughter didn't want to become a werewolf!" Albert yelled, stepping forward and getting right in the undead man's face. "Change her back right now!"

"What your granddaughter WANTED isn't really a factor at this point, sir…" He replied with a smirk that nearly pushed the old man to deck him. "And no. Not yet. Not while there is a race that needs a werewolf."

"She isn't running in your-" He stopped himself, glancing back at the two three teens behind him before glaring back at the source of his fury. "-mud flipping race!"

"She will...unless she wishes to remain a werewolf for the remainder of her life...which I hasten to add will be greatly extended..." Cerano retorted, sporting something very close to a troll face. "Your move, chubby."

"This isn't fair!" Luna piped up, slamming her fist into the arm of the couch. "You have no right to do this!"

"Life isn't fair, young lady, and neither is afterlife." He replied coldly with a shrug. "Now, as I said, I would be more than happy to help her change back, once she has run the race. The offer remains...but I would hurry before I change my mind." Albert, Luna and Francisco all start screaming at the scheming ghoul, who simply stood there and took it with a smirk. This lasted for several seconds before Lynn gave a near ear piercing whistle, putting a stop to the proceedings and brought everyone's attention onto her.

"Uh...hello...can I get a say in all this?" She asked, looking a little angry. "Don't get me wrong...I appreciate you all fighting for me...but since this is directly affecting me, I think I have a right to a say." Her family and friend looked at one another for a moment.

"Alright sport...go ahead…" Albert said cautiously.

"Thank you, Pop Pop...now you listen here, Mr Rotten…" Lynn said, turning her attention the ghoul with the smirk she hated so much right now. "Now...it's one thing that you and your hump backed mooks LIED to all of us...bringing us all clear across the freaking globe under false pretenses...but you FORCE me to go through an entire species change just for your stupid race! We could sue you back to the stone age is we wanted to!"

"You could….if you hadn't signed contracts back at your house." Cerano said, pulling the papers from his pocket.

"Lynn!" Luna shouted, while Albert face palmed.

"Heh...who reads the fine print…?" Lynn sheepishly shrugged before she returned to her indignant anger. "...but back to the point...You could have just asked me upfront about it! I'm always up for a race...and becoming a werewolf wouldn't have necessarily been a no either!"

"What!?" Came the surprised exclamations of Luna, Albert and Francisco. Even Cerano raised his eyebrows in amazement.

'...perhaps I overpaid the Hunch Bunch….' He thought to himself.

"What? If it really was going to be just temporary, it wouldn't have been such a big deal." The Lynn-Wolf explained with yet another shrug.

'Definitely overpaid…'

"...but you had to pull this nonsense! And you know what...even if I did have a choice, I would still run your stupid race!" She declared, storming right up to him despite only being about stomach high on Cerano. "What's more, not only WILL I run, I'm going to win! And the moment this flipping race is over, YOU ARE going to change me back to normal!"

"You have spirit. I like that." The bald corpse said with a sinister grin. "Perhaps we could make things more interesting…."

"Don't do it, Lynn…" Francisco warned her.

"You can't gamble with a minor!" Albert piped up in outrage.

"Actually, in Transylvania, you can, old man." Cerano said, not even looking at Pop Pop. "Now then….this is what I am offering. Win or lose, I will return you to normal. However...if you win, I will gladly send a substantial check to your family, for use as-say-a college fund? Along with the other prizes available, of course."

"And in the off chance my granddaughter loses…?" Albert asked cautiously.

"...she will owe me a favor."

"A...favor?" The sporty Loud asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. One favor. To be claimed at any time, for any reason. ANY favor. No questions. No refusal. Just immediate compliance." Cerano elaborated.

"Heck no!" Lynn snapped. "You're already changing me back one way or another! No way I'm getting involved in that!"

"You tell him, Lynnsanity!" Francisco cheered. Luna sighed with relief as her werewolf sister started to stomp her way over to them.

"Hmmm. I had heard you had a reputation, Miss Loud. I never thought you were….chicken." Lynn froze in place, just two steps away from her grandfather, her pointed ears sticking straight up.

"Don't listen to him sport…" He cautioned her. "He's just trying to goad you…."

"A little girl who's not confident enough in her skills to accept a little wager…" The ghoul taunted. Everyone could see her face turning red under her fur. To further push her, he even started making a few clucking noises.

"Lynn, no!" Albert cried as she suddenly turned back to Cerano. He smirked for a moment, holding his hand out to her. His smirk quickly vanished when the furious werewolf girl punched him right in the gut, causing him to cough and choke, brought to his knees from the pain.

"That's what I think of your dang wager!" She screamed in his face before turning and slapping him in the face with her tail. "See you in the winner's circle...when you present me my first place prizes!" She once more stomped her way over to her family and crush, who looked pretty shocked.

"There were probably better ways that could have been handled…" Luna said, once she finally recovered. "...but he had it coming."

"Of course." Francisco agreed with a simple ethereal servant from earlier had returned to the entry hall, carrying most of their luggage. He saw his master keeled over on the ground and winced. However, he didn't go over to assist him.

"...perhaps it would be best if you went to your rooms…" He whispered to Albert, nudging his head for them to follow him.

"You're probably right." The white haired gentleman replied, before whispering to Lynn. "I know your parents don't approve of violence, and normally I don't either….but way to go." Unfortunately, Lynn was too furious to hear him as the group of them started up the stairs.

"Cough…..ok...I admit...I pushed my luck there…." Cerano groaned as he knelt there, recovering from his injury.

"Dudes...what are we gonna tell Mom and Dad….?" Luna whispered to Albert and Francisco.

"...they're not going to be happy about this…" Lynn's crush commented quietly.

"No, they're not...but they deserve to know…" Albert responded solemnly. "Let me tell them, kids...I'm responsible for you all, after all…" He added as he pulled out his cell phone, sighing as he dialed his daughter's number, bracing himself for a most unpleasant conversation.

* * *

Back in Royal Woods…

The family was gathered around the tv, watching Operation Dessert Storm. It was all the sisters (Lincoln had to return to school), Lynn Sr and Rita, though the mother, father, and Lucy were unable to concentrate on the screen. They were all worried about their two daughters being so far away from them. They trusted Rita's father, of course, but they still couldn't shake their parental concerns. They were so on edge that when her phone went off, Rita fumbled with it for several seconds before answering. "Y...Yes..?"

"Rita? It's Pop Pop." He said quietly, in a tone that did nothing to help her anxiety.

"Dad..? What's wrong?"

"You might want to sit down, darling...I...have some news." Rita's eyes widened as she put her hand to her mouth.

"Honey…? Is something wr-" Lynn Sr was cut off when his wife hushed him, her attention on her conversation with her father.

"...it seems those hunchbacks weren't being entirely honest with us." Albert explained, his voice filled with guilt and worry.

"You mean...there was no charity race…?" Rita asked in a shaky voice. The nearest and oldest of the remaining siblings turned to look at their mother when she said that, Luan nudging Lola to redirect her attention from the tv.

"There is a race alright, but no charity...but I digress….they….they turned Junior into a werewolf." Albert finally said.

"WHAT!?" Rita screamed at the top of her lung, nearly hitting the ceiling as she rose from her seat and startling everyone in the room.

"LOUDS!" Shouted their cranky neighbor.

"SHUT UP!" Rita bellowed, looking toward where Mr Grouse resided.

"...yes ma'am…"

"...Father….tell me everything…..right now…." The Loud Matriarch requested with barely contained fury. Albert sighed and proceeded to tell them everything that happened since they arrived in Transylvania. There was dead silence as ten pairs of ears listened intently to Pop Pop's retelling of the events leading to Lynn's transformation.

"...and now she has to run the race, whether she likes it or not, or he'll never change her back." He finished sadly. "And legally, we're stuck between a rock and a hard place…"

"Oh no….my little girl….a werewolf…." The Loud Father said, right before he started bawling. Rita wasn't far behind, crying her eyes out.

"Isn't there a way we can cure her?" Lola asked, looking toward the genius of the family.

"Unfortunately, without a better understanding of how this came to be and a chance to study Lynn's condition closer...I'm afraid my hands are tied…" Lisa replied sadly.

"This, like, totes isn't fair…." Leni commented, close to tears herself.

"You're telling me…" Pop Pop said. "I'm sorry, everyone….I was supposed to be keeping an eye on them…"

"Pop Pop, it was hardly your fault." Lisa pointed out, offering the second oldest of her sisters a hanky. "These hunchbacks you mentioned had us all deceived…"

"It's our fault...we should have demanded to see those papers Junior signed!" Their father blubbered as he sobbed.

"We should have made Brunch and Crunch leave…" Their mother added as she cried.

"Come on, Mom, Dad….how were any of us to know…?" Lori inquired, moving over to try and comfort them with Lana, Lily and Luan.

"...Our only course of action seems to be playing Mr Rotters' game." Lisa deadpanned, though she hated to admit it. "He is, unfortunately, leading this dance…" Meanwhile, Lucy had crept away from the group, pulling out her phone.

"He may be leading the dance….but I know someone who can cut in…" She muttered as she hastily typed a message, then paused a moment. "...I've been listening to Luan too long…"

* * *

Many miles away, at Grimwood's school, Lincoln was trying to enjoy a nice board game with the Grimwood Girls. The key word being 'trying', as he was getting his hide handed to him, and badly. "Hehehe. Looks like you have to draw from the penalty deck again." Phanty teased playfully, pointing toward the stack of red cards on the board. The white haired boy gulped as he reached for the pile, just when his phone vibrated.

'Saved by the bell…' He thought. "That was my phone. Could you give me a sec? It could be important." He said nervously. Most of the girls just smirked at him, but let him go. He moved away to look at the text he just received. "...WHAT!?" He suddenly yelled, scaring the monster girls nearby.

"What happened, big brother!? Bad news?" Tanis asked fearfully.

"Sibella…" Lincoln turned suddenly to face his vampire girlfriend, a serious look on his face. "...we need to talk to your father….now."

"Now? But why….?" The daughter of Dracula inquired, confused and concerned.

"...they turned my sister into a werewolf against her will…" There was silence in the room, with Winnie looking a little offended. Sibella looked shocked, but then she stood up, as serious of Lincoln was.

"Excuse us a moment…." The vampiress took him by the hand and ran with him through the halls, headed for Miss Grimwood's office. However, to their good fortune, they ran into the motherly witch in the hall, chatting with Shaggy in the halls. "Miss Grimwood...we need to take a trip to Transylvania….urgently…" Abigail blinked and looked toward the vampiress when she heard that.

"Transylvania? But why so-" Lincoln held his phone up so she and Shaggy could see the message Lucy had just sent him.

Lincoln! SOS! The Hunch Bunch lied! They turned Lynn into a werewolf! - Lucy

"Zoinks!" The scruffy man exclaimed, Abigail gasping after reading the message.

"Oh my…..very well. I will take you both." Miss Grimwood told them, motioning them to come close and taking them both by the hand. "Revorateth cython TRANSYLVANIA ETORRAN!" She chanted loudly, a glowing circle surrounding them as the incantation started and the three of them vanishing from sight as it ended.

* * *

Back in Transylvania, in Castle Dracula, the Count was hard as work. He was making preparations for a big party in his castle, in honor of the Monster Marathon. He meant what he said before; he hated Cerano with a passion, but he very much liked the idea of the race. So, to show his support of the marathon, he decided to throw a big bash for all the participants and their guests. He had already hired the entertainment and was just organizing the refreshments when he heard the sound of someone teleporting behind him. He sighed, turning to give the sudden intruder a piece of his mind, only to find it was Miss Grimwood, Lincoln and his own daughter.

"Miss Grimwood! Lincoln!? Sibella!?"

"Daddy!" Sibella ran to her father and hugged him, the vampire lord's arms wrapping around his daughter.

"Vhat's wrong? Vhy are you all so far from school?"

"Mr Dracula..." Lincoln started, stepping toward the elder vampire as the two vampires broke off from their embrace. He glared at the boy, but to his surprise, Lincoln was not intimidated. "Are you familiar with the Monster Marathon?"

"Yes...I am. I was just arranging a party for the runners…" Dracula said, wondering where the little mortal was going with this.

"...the one running the race just turned my sister, Lynn, into a werewolf." Dracula's frown became more of a furious scowl, kneeling down to the boy's level.

"Tell me more…"

"These two hunchbacks Sibella said were called the Hunch Bunch approached my family-" Lincoln started, Vlad's eyes flashing dangerously when he heard that name.

"Stop!" He snapped, holding a hand up to the boy. "That tells me everything I need to know…" He handed the clipboard to his daughter. "Sibella, darling, could you and Miss Grimwood keep an eye on things here? I need to pay some old 'friends' a visit…"

"Certainly, Daddy." She replied, right before her father vanished with a swish of his cape.

* * *

A cab pulled up just outside the old retirement home belonging to Dracula's ex minions, the two monster men emerging from it and shuffling toward the door. "I don't know about you, old boy, but I'm ready to simply crash in my bed…" A tired Brunch said as he unlocked the door.

"Blee too…" Crunch grumbled, looking about ready to fall asleep on his feet. "Bli'm blad that's blover…"

"You and me both, Crunch. Now we can just enjoy the remainder of our retirement and-" The sophisticated hunchback opened the door and both of the hunchbacks froze in fear. Standing inside their living room, arms crossed, and smirking for some reason, was their once master, Count Dracula.

"Good evening…" He said as soon as the door was opened.

"Blooh no! Blaster!" Crunch jumped back in utter terror.

"Crunch, calm yourself, my friend." Brunch said, patting his old friend on the hump. "He isn't our master anymore…." He turned back to look at the vampire lord, adjusting the his monocle. "Good evening, Count. To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"I heard something very interesting earlier, Brunch…" He said, stepped closer to them, still smirking, but his tone turning somewhat hostile.

"Did you?" The sophisticated hunchback inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. From my darling daughter, Sibella, and her boyfriend. It seems a certain SOMEONES-" His smirk became a sneer, his piercing eyes practically boring through Brunch's head as he leaned closer to him. "-Had gotten involved with the Monster Marathon. Helping Cerano find a verevolf, from what I heard…"

"With all due respect, Count...why does it matter so much to your daughter and her significant other?"

"...her boyfriend is named Lincoln LOUD!" The vampire lord raised his voice as he spoke the surname, causing the hunchbacks to cringe.

"Bluh oh….."

"L...Loud?"

"Yes. Loud. As in the brother of Miss LYNN LOUD!" Vlad bellowed, Crunch quickly cowering behind Brunch (who was about on step away from doing the same).

"B...But...Dracula…" Brunch stammered, sweating profusely. "Please….we...didn't necessarily want to-"

"But you did anyvay!" Dracula cut him off.

"Blaster! Blease! Blon't be blangry!" Crunch cried, shaking in his shoes. "Ble'll do blanything!" Vlad looks over at Crunch, then straightened up, crossing his arms in front him.

"First off, you're going to tell me how he vent about it. How did he turn the girl into a lycan!?"

"We...don't know the details, Count….but we do know a few things. His plan was to use lycanthrope contaminated blood...and he had gotten one Doctor Morbus involved…" Dracula bared his fangs, making a note to visit the 'good doctor'. "Our job was simply to bring her here and to the doctor."

"Vith the full knowledge of how dangerous this move vas?" Dracula said with a growl. "Injecting her vith verevolf blood like that could have had potentially disastrous results...she could have gone utterly vild...or even died." Brunch and Crunch looked to one another again, gulping in fear.

"...I suppose you have every intention on punishing us, Count….?"

"No." Dracula stated simply, making the hunchbacks wonder if they really heard him correctly. "Not now...and perhaps not at all...if you cooperate...vhich leads me to my next point. You two are going to protect Miss Loud during this event."

"I beg your pardon…?"

"If you vant to save your collective necks, I vant you to keep Lynn safe." He instructed. "I have no doubt that the other participants of his race vill play as dirty as the racers from the Monster Road Rally...and I vould not want the child to get seriously hurt. After all, if she vere, Lincoln vould no doubt get upset. If Lincoln is upset, my daughter vould be upset...need I continue?"

"No...no. Your message is received, loud and clear, Count...we will watch Miss Loud carefully and keep her safe and sound." Brunch swore, his voice still shaky with fear.

"See that you do." The vampire lord warned them. "Or ve vill meet again….for the last time." In a puff of smoke, he turned into a bat and flew off, leaving the Hunch Bunch to consider what the they were going to do now.


	4. Chapter 4

_AN: Just a short chapter to move the story along. Couldn't really think of anything else to add for this particular chapter. Next chapter should be longer, with more cameos and introductions._

* * *

Ghouls and Ghosts

Dracula returned to his castle after about an hour, where he found Sibella directing the ghosts decorating the ballroom, Lincoln giving his opinions on the refreshments, and Miss Grimwood speaking to a delivery harpy. His expression was difficult to gauge as he waited for the kids and the middle aged witch finished what they were doing before he made his presence known. "Daddy? What happened?"

"Were you able to do anything about what happened to my sister?" Lincoln asked, hopeful.

"I'm sorry, Lincoln...but there is very little I can do in that regard…" Dracula admitted with a sorrowful shake of the head. "Being transformed with lycan blood injected right into her bloodstream makes changing her back nearly impossible if you do not know vhat you're doing." The middle son looked down cast when he heard this. "That said, I am taking steps to find a vay to help her. I suppose, for now, ve vill have to take Mr Rotters at his vord; that he vill help Lynn after the race. In the meantime, her safety is my prime concern…"

"Thank you, Count Dracula." Lincoln said, still sounding sad. Vlad simply nodded before looking to Miss Grimwood.

"Miss Grimwood, if you vould be so kind as to take the children back to school…"

"Of course. Until we meet again, Count." She replied, motioning Sibella and Lincoln to come to her.

"See you later, Daddy." Sibella called out before they all vanished.

* * *

The three of them reappeared back inside the school moments later, Miss Grimwood taking a seat after the final teleportation, looking kind of tired. Both the boy and the vampiress run over by her side to make sure she's alright. "Don't fret, my darlings…." Abigail said as she recuperated her energy. "I'm alright…"

"Thank you, Miss Grimwood…for helping us get to Transylvania..." Lincoln said, once he was sure the motherly witch was going to be ok.

"You're quite welcome, Lincoln. I'm sorry about what happened to your sister…"

"Don't worry, Lincoln. Daddy will help her…" Sibella told him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sure he will…" Lincoln said, still looking worried. "But if that guy running the race is willing to do something so dangerous to make Lynn a werewolf...how much further would he go?" Sibella and Miss Grimwood both looked at one another. They had no answer to that question and, now that he had mentioned it, they had to admit they were a little worried too. Shaggy and Scooby Doo, who weren't far away, carrying giant sized sandwiches with them, had heard Lincoln's concerns. They glanced to one another for a moment before a light bulb went off over Scooby's head. He whispered to his owner, who smiled and nodded.

"Not a bad idea, Scoob." He told the great dane before patting him on the head and walking over to join the scene. "Ahem...excuse me." Lincoln, Sibella and Abigail all turned their heads to look at the ever hungry duo. "We couldn't help but overhear what you said, Lincoln…"

"Reah...rand we're rorry arout your rister…."

"But we think we know of someone who can help." Shaggy spoke up, Lincoln's face lighting up. "At least, to keep her safe before and during the race."

"You do? Who!?" The one son asked anxiously.

"A couple friends of ours, who are hanging out in my Uncle's old place." Shaggy explained, pointing in what seemed a random direction over his shoulder.

"Rhey're rinda ring a rings…." Scooby interjected.

"...yeah, but when it mattered, they really saved our necks."

"Can you get in touch with them!? Please!?"

"Like, sure thing, little dude." Shaggy said, drawing his cell phone from his pocket, dialing and waiting for a moment. "Like, hello? Yeah, it's me. I'm fine, and so is Scooby and Scrappy. How about you guys?...good good. Listen, I know it's kind of sudden, but I need a little favor...you think you could come over to Miss Grimwood's School? We'll explain everything when you get here…" Then Shaggy held the phone away from his ear. At first, Lincoln thought this was odd, but that thought left when he saw a tall, thin ghost wearing a green flight cap emerge from the ear piece.

"No problem, pal! We got the school spirit! Get it? School? Spirit? Nyuk nyuk nyuk!" The ghost snickered at his own joke before being forcefully shoved through the phone and splatting again the ceiling. His assailant was a brawnier, stockier ghost with frizzled brown hair and wearing a wide brimmed yellow hat.

"Keep it moving, yah dipstick. Yer holding up the line." He said as he pulled himself out, then reached into the phone to pull a third ghost: he was bald, dumpy, and wore a backwards facing pink cap.

"What kept you guys?" Shaggy joked, grinning as the taller ghost reshaped himself and rejoined the group.

"Sorry, b...but we ran into a party line on the way here." The third ghost explained. "So, what do you need?"

"Actually, it's our friend here who really needs the help." He pointed over at the surprised looking young man behind the trio of ghosts.

"Er...hi. I'm Lincoln Loud." He introduced himself nervously.

"Well, pleased ta meetcha, Lincoln! Whatcha thinkin'?" The tall ghost chirped, hastily shaking his hand before the stockier ghost shoved him away.

"Knock it off, Shrieko." He said sternly. "Sorry about that kid. He's kinda nuts. Anyway, I'm Freako, you already met Shrieko, and that over there is Meeko." He pointed a thumb over at the ghost in the cap, who waved to him. "We're the Boo Brothers, at yer service."

"Uh...pleased to meet you all." He said, uncertain what to make of all this. However, in the time he knew him, he knew he could trust Shaggy. If he said they could help, then hopefully they could.

"Likewise, kid. So what's eatin' ya?" Freako asked, floating down to his level.

"Well...my sister was invited to take part in the Monster Marathon race-"

"Whoa, really? That's great!" Meeko exclaimed.

"No it's not!" Lincoln snapped before he could stop himself, startling the meek spirit. "Sorry...I didn't mean to snap like that….it's just...they forcibly turned my sister into a werewolf to do it."

"Hey...didn't the same thing happen to you, Shaggy?" Shrieko asked, looking over at the scruffy looking man, who had just downed his jumbo sized sub.

"Gulp...like, yeah, but not in the same way." Shaggy answered. "Let Lincoln finish. He'll explain." The white haired lad nodded lightly.

"They did it by injecting her with lycan blood…"

"What!? That's positively inhuman!" Freako said angrily, steam coming from his ears. "What kinda monster would pull a stunt like that!?"

"His name is Mr Rotters."

"Rotters...he's the guy in the charge of the race, right?" Meeko asked, scratching the back of his bald head.

"Ya want we should haunt the jerk?" Shrieko asked eagerly.

"I don't think that would help." Lincoln responded with a shake of the head. "Besides, he said he would change Lynn back after the race...if we can take his word for it. But anyway, what I need is someone who can keep an eye on her covertly. Make sure she's safe until the race is over. She's one tough sister, but who knows what could be in store for her?"

"I getcha kid. And don't you worry. So long as the Boo Brothers are on the case, yer sister is as safe as if she were in her mother's arms." Freako declared, thumping his chest as he stuck it out.

"...I'm afraid I don't have a lot of money to-" Lincoln started to say.

"Ah, don'tcha worry about it, snowcap." Shrieko said, waving off his statement.

"Yeah. We know how important family is. This one's on the house." Freako said, patting Lincoln on the back.

"So, where are we going?" Meeko inquired.

"Daddy said that Mr Rotters would be housing all of the participants for the race at his summer home in Transylvania." Sibella spoke up, getting the ghosts' attention.

"That so? Thanks loads, little lady." The frizzy haired ghost said, shaking her hand.

"Yeah. You saved us a lot of looking around." Shrieko commented.

"What does your sister look like, by the way? So we know when we found the right kid." The ghostly leader asked, turning to look at the white haired boy.

"She's a little taller than I am. Built like an athlete. Long brown hair with a ponytail. Always wearing a red and white jersey with the number one on it, plus shorts and running shoes." Lincoln explained, but then a new concern came to his mind. "But how are you going to get all the way to Transylvania from here?"

"Same way they got here from the Beauregarde Mansion." Shaggy replied, dialing a number on his phone. "Hello? Is this Triple Six Pizza? Groovy. Hold the line a moment." He turned his cell to the Boo Brothers, who all lept into it. There was some startled screams from the other end before Shaggy put the device back to his ear. "Like, sorry about that, but it was an emergency. How about I make up for it by ordering a few extra large pizzas? Uh huh. With everything on it…" He glanced over at Sibella, then amended. "...except garlic. Yuh huh. Sure, a few orders of breadsticks, and don't hold the parmesan. Can you deliver to Miss Grimwood's? You can? Great. See you soon." The moment Shaggy hung up the phone, an imp materialized out of nowhere, carrying a stack of pizza boxes.

"Whoa! That was fast." Lincoln commented, after leaping away from the tiny demon.

"We pride ourselves on swift delivery." The imp explained in a gruff voice as he handed the boxes to Shaggy, who gave him a wad of cash in return.

"Like, keep the change."

"Thanks, bud." The imp gave a quick salute before vanishing as quickly as he appeared.

"Like, dinner's on me today." Shaggy declared, carrying the huge stack of boxes toward the dining room, with Scooby following to help him. Lincoln just stood there for a moment as Sibella helped Miss Grimwood follow the man and his dog, deep in thought. As much faith as he had in Shaggy and his choice of calling the Boo Brothers, he still couldn't help but worry. However, he knew it was out of his hands at this point. It was all up to Lynn and her new spectral bodyguards.

* * *

Back in Transylvania, Cerano Rotters was still recovering from the punch in the gut he had taken from Lynn. He was furious that she would dare do that to him, but by the same token, he knew he was asking for it, and he couldn't risk losing his werewolf at this point. For now, he would simply swallow his pride, and the pain, as he knew it would all be worthwhile. As he was healing, he heard the loud, bellowing sound of the door knocker. "Enter." He called out. The door flew open as a purple, leathery skinned ghoul strode in with a gait of confidence on four legs. He was wearing a torn, black t shirt with a big red T on it, with a pair of jeans covered in holes and dark gray running sneakers on his four feet. His dirty brown hair was done up in a mohawk.

"Cerano!" He called out in a jolly tone, his arms held wide open.

"Zeral!" Cerano responded, rising from his seat. The two ghouls embraced for a moment before exchanging fist bumps. "How goes it, cousin?"

"You know how it is, cousin. It's lonely at the top." Zeral replied with a snicker. "Well, except for all the lovely ghoulies who want a piece of ol Fleetfeet Zeral." He added, pointing at himself with both thumbs.

"It's great to see you again. And in top form, I see." The creator of the Monster Marathon said, looking down at the four legs of his undead cousin. "I see you've added a few things."

"What do you mean? I always had those." The four legged wight said with a shrug, getting a snicker from Cerano.

"Of course." His cousin motioned him to follow as the well off ghoul led him through the house to his study on the first floor. "Looking forward to the race?"

"Always. Has the rest of the competition arrived?"

"Not yet. The remainder of the participants should be here tomorrow though." Cerano explained, looking at a map of Transylvania on his desk. "Should be some stiff competition, Zeral."

"Pfft. You're kidding, right? I'm the star of Transylvania! I could outrun death himself." Zeral bragged, puffing out his chest.

"Excellent." The hook nosed dead man grinned. "Because I bet a bundle on you, cousin." He added under his breath.

"A wise move. You have a guaranteed win there."

"Of course, cousin. However, I also want to have a little insurance." Cerano Rotters stepped aside, gesturing to Zeral to get a closer look at the map. "This is the course for the marathon. A run across practically all of scenic Transylvania." He placed a single finger on the road just outside his summer home. "We start here, jog through the village, run through the Backbite Farmlands…" He traced his finger along the path. "...dash through the Mist Marrow Marsh, along Moray Bay, circle around Castle Dracula, traverse the shadowy Morris Woods, across the Sinking Sand Plains, and the back here. Approximate time to run around 3 hours." He concluded, his finger stopping right where he started.

"Three hours? I can have it run in twenty minutes." The four legged ghoul said cockily.

"Now now. Let's not go too nuts. I mean, we do need to give a good show for the audience, right?" Cerano inquired with a chuckle. "But still...study the path carefully. Pick out a few shortcuts just in case. And if it looks like you're too far ahead, just slow up a bit. Make it seem like the others have a chance." He instructed him. "Think you can do that?"

"If I must."

"Good. Now, make yourself a plan. Oh, and I hope you brought some nice clothes. When the remaining racers arrive, there is going to be a party celebrating the Monster Marathon at Castle Dracula."

"Awesome. Guess Drac is trying to stay relevant." Zeral said with a laugh.

"Hehehe. I bet. But if he's gonna give us and our participants free food and fun, who am I to argue?" The two ghoulish cousins laughed together as they plotted how Zeral was going to win.

* * *

Upstairs, The Loud Sisters, Albert and Francisco were getting settled in their own room. With the knowledge the Hunch Bunch had provided him about their arrangement, Cerano had the large, suite sized room arranged specifically for them. Four beds were arranged in the room, two on each side, with a large heavy curtain between them that could be moved to give each side some privacy. In addition, there was a small tv and radio on each side, as well as a dresser. There was only one window, in the center of the curtain, and only one closet on Luna and Lynn's side. Francisco and Albert had already gotten upacked, with the young man looking for something to watch on tv, while Albert was simply staring off into space, trying to make sense of things. Luna was tuning her guitar; a common relaxation technique for her, and she was SERIOUSLY angry right now. Lynn was sitting on her own bed, positively furious, at least on the outside. She had a look of outrage on her face about the whole situation, her foot rapidly tapping the air, her arms crossed in front of her. No one said a word for several minutes, until Albert finally said. "Well...we should probably all hit the hay...maybe...maybe things will look better in the morning." No one really agreed with that, but they were all pretty tired, so they agreed.

"Good night Pop Pop." Luna and Lynn both called, Luna setting her guitar down and getting under her covers.

"Night Francisco." Lynn followed up.

"Good night, Lynn, Luna, Mr Albert." Francisco replied, turning the tv off before he made himself comfortable.

"Sweet dreams, kids." Albert called out before he laid down, turning off the light.

"...hey Lynn...you gonna be alright?" Luna whispered, looking over at her fur bearing sister.

"Yeah...it'll take more than some extra hair to get to me." She said, with her usual aire of confidence.

"Well, if you're sure...sleep well." The rock and roll gal said before she closed her eyes. The ponytailed werewolf girl rested her head on her pillow, facing away from her older sister. She glanced back at her for a moment, tears starting to fill her eyes. Satisfied with the idea Luna was asleep, Lynn faced the wall and started to cry silently. The situation she found herself in had affected her much more than she let on. She wasn't just angry; she was scared. Scared that she could end up a werewolf forever. What would happened to her? What would her friends think? Would she still be allowed to go to school and participate in sports? Scared of what she could face in this race. Seeing as this was the Monster Marathon, no doubt monsters, and she was used to hanging around the Grimwood Girls. However, the monsters you don't know are far more fearsome than the monsters you do. Scared of what Cerano had planned. The creep already turned her a werewolf already and tried to make a bet with her, but after she decked him, would he plan revenge? Would he target her family or Francisco? All these thoughts bounced around her mind like a pile of loose springs, which made the poor girl cry even harder. She tried her best to keep it quiet though. The last thing she wanted was for her sister, grandfather, and especially her crush to see her bawling her eyes out. So there she lay, sobbing until she eventually cried herself to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Transylvanian Bash

The next morning, Lynn was up early and raring for two things: action and breakfast. Her worries from the previous night had been suppressed, but not forgotten. However, she had her desire to prep for the race to distract her for the moment. She took care of a few warm up exercises while she waited for her crush and family to wake up and get their act together, after which they all went out for breakfast (no one trusted Cerano not to fiddle with their food). Meanwhile, from the roof of the manor, three pairs of eyes watched them as they piled into a taxi. "There she is." Meeko pointed out quietly as soon he saw the werewolf Lynn.

"Alright, brothers. We found Lynn, and she looks like she's alright for now." Freako commented, looking through his hands like they were binoculars. "Boo Brothers, follow that cab. And try to look like birds, so we don't blow our cover." Shrieko and Meeko both nodded, the three ghosts taking to the air and morphing themselves into large birds. It takes the group a few minutes to each the nearest diner, which was thankfully mostly human (or at least human like creatures). After ordering their breakfast and some coffee, they sat mostly in silence; with Luna listening to the jukebox, Albert reading the local and Royal Woods paper on his phone, and Francisco and Lynn looking out the window as the strange birds out front. Not far away, two pairs of eyes glanced over at them from a nearby booth. A pair of eyes belonging to the Hunch Bunch, each with a coffee cup in front of them, and a menu in Crunch's hands.

"Seems she adjusting well enough." Brunch whispered to his associate, keeping out of sight of Lynn and her friend and family. "Good. Good. Just need to keep it that way."

"Blou think the blrawberries blare blorganic?" Crunch asked as he scanned the menu.

"Focus, Crunch." He snapped quietly, taking the menu away.

"Blrunch, calm bown." The big tongued monster man said, making 'ease up' gesture. "Blere fine blight here. Ble can bleep an eye on blem. So bhy not blave some bleakfast?"

"Hmmmm. Yes, I suppose you have a point…my apologies, Crunch. This whole turn of events has left me on edge, understandably I hope."

"Blo worries." Crunch commented. "Blo, blat do you blink?"

"Beats me, old bean, but we could ask the waiter when he returns." Brunch replied. "...and thinking on it, strawberries would be lovely. I wonder if I could get them to top some waffles." He wondered aloud, looking at the menu.

"Huh. Would you look at that." Albert said as his drank his coffee, looking at his phone. "There's apparently going to be a big party in Castle Dracula tonight."

"No foolin' Pop Pop?" Luna asked, coffee cup half way to her lips.

"Yeah. And according to the article, it's going to be for the participants of the Monster Marathon and their guests."

"You mean we'll get to see the inside of Dracula's castle? We'll get to meet Count Dracula himself!?" Francisco asked excitedly.

"Yeah. Guess so." Lynn said lazily.

"Huh? Why aren't you more excited, Lynn?"

"We've met the Count before, Francisco." Luna explained to him. "In fact, our little bro's dating his little girl." The young man's jaw dropped at that news. It was then their food arrived and everyone started focusing on their breakfast, while still chattering about news from home and school stories. The hunchback duo were about halfway done with their own breakfasts when they had finished their own food and were heading out.

"Hey...you guys mind if I jog along behind you instead of taking the taxi?" Lynn asked, doing a little stretching. "Gotta keep up my training, after all." Albert and Luna look to one another for a moment.

"Well...it's not that far, so I guess...but keep your phone on and be careful…" Albert answered.

"Sure thing, Pop Pop." Lynn replied, waiting for the taxi to drive on ahead before she began to jog behind them. The cab was moving slower than it usually would, so they could still keep her in side, which annoyed the brash young werewolf, but she understood regardless. A few minutes into the jog, she could hear a rustling behind her to her right. She glanced back and saw teenage girl (perhaps a little older than she was if she had to guess) jogging along behind her. Or at least, she assumed as much. The girl didn't have legs, but a snake like lower body. Her skin was kind of scaly, and a soft, light brown color, except for her underbelly which was grayish. She had a bunch of snakes for hair, which were simply laying limp, so at a distance it was kind of hard to tell. She was wearing a forest green tank top with a black eye symbol on it, as well as a black skirt. Her eyes were yellow with sapphire colored slits for pupils. She seemed to be looking Lynn over with interest. Her eyes soon travel up to Lynn's, which were looking at her with a 'can I help you?' look. She simply waved and sped up her pace so she could run beside her.

"Hey there." She said with a smile.

"Er….hey." The sporty Loud replied.

"Nice day for a jog, am I right?"

"Yeah, kinda. Just trying to keep in shape."

"Same here. Gotta stay in practice if I hope to do well in the Monster Marathon."

"Wait...you're running in the marathon? Me too." Lynn said with a smile.

"Hmmm. I kinda got that impression." The serpentine girl said with a bit of a grin. "You have the look of an athlete."

"Thanks. I'm Lynn, by the way. Lynn Loud."

"I'm Kaspa, daughter of Medusa." She introduced herself. Lynn held her fist out to Kaspa, who flinched back, thinking the werewolf Loud was about to hit her. The ponytailed girl just looked at her for a moment, her fist just hanging there.

"...I guess you've never seen a fist bump before?"

"Oh! Sorry." Kaspa giggled, slightly embarrassed as she bumped fists with her.

"So...you said you were the daughter of Medusa? Then...why am I not turning to stone?"

"Not all gorgons do that. My gaze is more….entrancing...when I choose it to be." She mentioned with a half smirk.

"Oh. Neat."

"Love your fur, by the way." She complimented her. "Especially the pony tail."

"Hehe. Thanks. My hair was always like that before I got turned into a werewolf." Lynn explained. "Your...um...snakes look nice."

"Thanks. They're kind of lazy, which makes them easy to style." She said, gently brushing the limp snakes with her hand.

"Er….that's nice." Lynn said awkwardly, uncertain what else to say. Her comment got a slight giggle out of the gorgon teen before they spent the rest of the jog back to Cerano's summer home in silence. Up above, the Boo Brothers continued to watch over the werewolf girl, watching Kaspa like a hawk (despite the fact they were all literal loons).

"What do you think, Freako? Do we take the snake in the grass?" Shreiko asked, looking toward the bird ghost with the yellow hat.

"Cool it, Shreiko. She hasn't tried anything yet. And her folks are right up ahead. Just stand by." He instructed his bombastic brother.

"Hey guys...I think they're being followed." Meeko piped up, nudging his head toward a bike for two a distance behind the pair. Freako and Shreiko looked back to see the Hunch Bunch.

"Hey...I know those creeps. They used to work for Dracula. The Hunch Bunch." Freako said with a frown. "What're they doing following Lynn?"

"No idea...but I gotta hunch. Nyuk nyuk nyuk." Shreiko snickered, getting a '...really?' look from his brothers. "...too much? Ok, I take it 'back'. Get it?"

"One more joke like that and you'll get it." The leader of the brothers threatened, waving a wing at him. "Now make yerself useful and watch over those two. Meeko and I will stick with Lynn."

"Roger that!" Shreiko saluted before slowing his flight speed to stay over the hunchbacks. Brunch and Crunch kept their distance, however, not wishing to alert Lynn, Francisco, and her family. The fact they stayed on her tail, however, did nothing to ease her ghostly guardian's suspicions. As they did nothing, though, the Boo Brothers didn't do anything to them. The Hunch Bunch took cover when the cab stopped in front of Mr Rotter's home, while the ghosts hid on the roof. As Albert was paying the driver, Luna hopped out of the taxi and walked over to her sister.

"Who's your new friend, sis?" Luna asked, eyeing the gorgon was clear suspicion.

"Luna, this is Kaspa. She's also gonna be running in the race. Kaspa, my sister, Luna."

"Charmed." The scaly teen said, shaking hands with Luna with a smile. Luna's gaze seemed to drill into her, though Kaspa seemed far from concerned.

"Pleased to meet you too." Luna replied, trying to be polite. Francisco walks up to the front door and motions Lynn to follow. The werewolf Loud waved to him in reply and turned to her new friend.

"It was nice meeting you and jogging with you, Kaspa, but I gotta run. See you around."

"I do hope so. See you around, Lynn." The two waved, the snake-like teen winking as Lynn hurried to meet up with her crush, the serpentine girl watching her as she left. Luna raised an eyebrow for a moment as she looked between the two. "I should be on my way back home as well. Have a nice day, Luna."

"Uh. Sure. Fare you well, goodbye." The rock and roll sister replied, keeping an eye on the gorgon as she slither jogged away, noticing as she glanced back to look at the older sister one more time. 'Hmmm. She seems nice enough...but my gut says something is up. Good or bad, I can't really say yet. I better watch her when she's around.'

"No issues from the gorgon." Brunch commented as he watched from a pair of binoculars, looking relieved. "Looks like Miss Loud will be ok for now."

"Uh….Blunch." His mush mouthed compadre whispered, tapping him on the shoulder.

"What is it, Crunch?" In answer, Crunch pointed toward the roof. The monocled hunchback looked up and spotted the Boo Brothers watching Lynn and her group going into Mr Rotter's place.

"Hello...what's this? What are those ghosts doing up there?" He frowned, rubbing his chin after lowering his spying device.

"Bleems blishy to ble."

"I quite agree, old boy." Brunch nodded, watching the ghosts. "We should keep an eye on them." So for the rest of the morning and most the afternoon, The Hunch Bunch monitored both the Boo Brothers and the house, while the spirit siblings spied on them and patrolled the roof as well. Neither side were necessarily aware that their cover had been blown.

* * *

As the sun started to set, there was activity from the house: Cerano and Zeral, Lynn, Luna, Albert and Francisco all emerged from the manor, headed for a stretch limo that had just came to park out front. The four legged ghoul simply sneered at Lynn's back as they walked, while her crush looked a little horrified by the sight of him. Fortunately for them, the limo was segmented, so the ghoul cousins were in one section, while the Louds, their grandfather, and the young man were in another. The vehicle drove off once they were all in and settled, being followed in the air by the spectral trio, while the hump backed duo biked off after them. The Hunch Bunch knew exactly where they were going, of course, but they needed to watch the soaring ghosts in case they made a move. Fortunately, there was no trouble between Cerano's place and Castle Dracula. The Loud sisters and Francisco gaze up at the imposing castle with awe, while Albert chuckles a little as he examined the gothic structure. "Certainly more impressive up close." He commented.

"Hmph. Of course you would think so, old man." Cerano said disrespectfully.

"Old fang face is probably over compensating for something." Zeral added with a laugh.

"Says the guy with four legs." Lynn shot back.

"You wanna say that to my face, fuzzy wuzzy!?" The zombie growled, glaring at Lynn.

"With pleasure, leather face!" The lycan Loud replied, baring her fangs.

"Ease up, little sis." Luna said, trying to pull her snarling sister away.

"Calm yourself, Zeral. Save humiliating her for the race." Cerano told him, patting his cousin on the back before motioning him to follow.

"He's not worth getting angry about, Lynnsanity." Francisco said, giving her a quick scritch behind her ears. The brown furred wolfgirl flinched, nearly collapsing with a dream like smile before she snapped out of it, moving away from his hand.

"I asked you not to do that…"

"Can't help it. You needed to calm down...and it's adorable." He added kinda quietly, his cheeks a little red. With her keen ears, she heard him and it made her blush brightly, which in turn made Luna and Albert snicker a little. Once the two of them snapped out of it, they slowly approached the double doors and raised portcullis that led into Dracula's Castle. Standing on the other side of the door, a lovely, pale skinned lady with long blonde hair and a flowing red gown welcomed them in and directed them to the ballroom.

"This place is creepier on the inside." Francisco whispered, shivering a bit as they walked through the torch lit hall..

"It's not that bad." Lynn commented with a grin. "Never pegged you for such a nervous nelly, Franco."

"Cut the guy some slack, Lynn." Luna said, though she knew her sister was just teasing him. "Not everyone is used to Grimwood levels of creepy like we are."

"And Lynn's fearless anyway." The young man interjected, bringing a look of pride to the young werewolf's face.

"Fearless? Heh. You should have seen her during one Easter celebration." Luna started to say with a mischievous smirk. Lynn's ears and tail stick out straight as she whipped around, grabbed Luna by the scruff of her shirt, and pulled her face down to hers.

"Zip your lip, Luna, or I tell Sam about your early morning bathroom karaoke…" She whispered threateningly, glaring at her older sister.

"Whoa...I was just ribbing you, Lynn. I wasn't really going to say anything." The rockster gal told her with a nervous grin.

"I thought as much." Lynn growled, letting her sister go. Francisco looked utterly confused, but Luna shook her head, indicating she wasn't going to say anything further. The rest of the walk was in silence from the kids, while Pop Pop was admiring some of the tapestries and paintings in the hall.

"Ah. Welcome." Came the voice of another, similar looking woman; the main difference being she had slightly shorter, red hair, and some sparse freckles around her nose. Lynn blinked as she saw her, looking back toward the entrance.

"Er...do you have a sister who works here?" she asked, a touch befuddled.

"Yes and no." The lady explained with a giggle. "We do not work here, we live here. We're simply aiding our husband. And she is only my sister via marriage."

"Oh...you're Dracula's wife?"

"We are." She corrected her. "Me, her, and two others. We are all the brides of Count Dracula."

"Wait...Dracula has four wives? Is that legal?"

"Is anyone gonna argue with the most powerful vampire on Earth?" Albert responded quietly, leaning over beside Lynn's right ear.

"...good point." She conceded, the red headed bride giggling again before they ventured into the ball room. The room was filled with a variety of monster teens and grown ups, most of which dancing to some music being played by a jukebox, while a stage with the curtains drawn dominated the far wall of the cavernous room. Along the opposite wall was an impressive spread of food and drinks that looked positively delicious. Just inside the room, Count Dracula stood, currently speaking to Cerano and Zeral, and looked very displeased about it.

"But yeah, Vlad…" Cerano said, making the pale green vampire turn red. "...not a bad shindig here. I could have done better, of course, but I'm not gonna turn my nose up to a free party."

"I dunno, coz...I think this party stinks. No live music, I don't see any food I like...and there's a distinct lack of cute girls around here." Zeral complained, looking just plain bored despite having just arrived.

"What can you expect, cousin? Vlad here is so out of touch, it's just embarrassing." The vampire lord looked like he REALLY wanted to kill the two of them...again...but he kept his cool.

"As I vas saying, enjoy the party….oh, and Cerano…" He grabbed the ghoul by the arm and pulled him closer to whisper, in a voice of hardly contained rage. "I know vhat you did...and once the marathon is over...you vill pay." He roughly released Mr Rotter's arm, who looked utterly unconcerned by Dracula's threat. He walked away just as Lynn, Luna, Francisco and Albert stepped forward, with the snow haired gentlemen glaring at the undead cousins as they went to mingle. "Ah. Miss Lynn Loud. And Luna as vell. A pleasure to see the two of you again."

"Again?" Cerano paused, turning his ear(or lack thereof) toward the group by the vampire.

"Evening, Count." Luna said, shaking his hand.

"Hello again, Count." Lynn greeted him.

"And who may I ask are your guests?"

"Name's Albert, I'm their grandfather." Pop Pop said, giving Vlad a hardy handshake.

"And this is my number one teammate, Francisco." Lynn added, pulling her intimidated crush closer to her.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintances." The Count said, before he leaned in closer to Lynn. "...Are you alright, Miss Loud?" He asked in a lowered voice, forcing Cerano to move closer to eavesdrop.

"Yeah...save for a few obvious changes, I'm fine." She answered, looking at her fur covered hands.

"Yes...your brother told me about that."

"Lincoln told you? But how'd he know?"

"I bet Lucy told him after we told the family." Luna deduced, her little sister looking at her. "She had a bad feeling about those Hunch Bunch guys, and went to Lincoln before. Dollars to donuts says she spread the word."

"A very perceptive young lady, that Lucy. Anyway, through Lincoln, I learned of the treachery that had occured...rest assured, ve vill find a way to help you, Miss Loud." He told her softly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"...Thanks, Dracula...but Mr Rotters says he'd change me back after the race...so all I gotta do is win, so I'll not only be turned back, but stick it in his craw as well." Hearing that brought a smile and a snicker to the ancient vampire's face, but a scowl to the ghoul's face.

"I had a feeling you vere a spirited one...but just to be safe, I plan to do my own research...I don't trust that ghoul any further than I could kick him. Either vay, you vill not need to live your life as a verevolf if you don't vish it." Lynn smiled lightly back to him before he straightened up. "But enough serious talk. Go on and dance. Mingle. Eat, drink and be merry." Upon hearing that, Cerano hastily moved back to his cousin. He was somewhat concerned about what he had heard and learned, but he was still convinced he could handle Dracula should it come to that, so he put it aside in his mind and simply continued to try and enjoy the festivities.

"Now you're talking. I'm hungry." Lynn said, licking her lips as she ran over to the buffet table. Francisco joined her with all haste, still very nervous at the sight of all these monsters. Luna was looking over at the jukebox, then over at the stage. She had no issues with music from machines, and definitely didn't want to agree with such a rude zombie, but she did have to admit that live music would be better for this kind of party. She was definitely regretting not bringing her guitar with her.

"Something the matter, Luna?" The vampire lord asked her calmly.

"No. It's cool, Count." She replied, not wanting to give him grief after Cerano and Zeral just did.

"If you say so. I do hope the band I hired gets here soon…" He commented, more to himself than Luna, checking his watch. Luna perked up when she heard that.

"Who'd you get?"

"Ah ah ah. I'm not spoiling the surprise." He told her with a bit of a smirk. "You'll see soon enough." A bit more excited, Luna joins the guests on the dance floor.

* * *

"Let's see what they have here." The WereLynn said as her hungry eyes scanned the table. They seemed to have everything; from humble salads and fruit, to burgers, to bbq, sushi, and of course and entire table of desserts. Lynn immediately grabbed a burger, which sprouted bat wings as soon as it left the tray,

"Huh? Hey!" She gasped as the burger flew out of her hand.

"Oh! Lucky you. You got a rare bat burger." An adult skeleton in a polo shirt and khakis commented as he looked up at the flying burger.

"Hey! Get back here!" Lynn yelled, chasing after it. Francisco and the bone man watch as she runs off, before the skeleton looked at the young man.

"If you're not eating, mind if I get in?" He asked, pointing to table.

"Er….go ahead…." The dark haired boy said, quickly stepping aside. "...I'm not all that hungry."

"Thanks kid." The skull headed being said as he moved to the salad bar, grabbing an apple and biting into it. He walks off, leaving chunks of apple in his wake. Meanwhile, the hungry lycan was still chasing after her burger, ducking around her fellow race participants and grown ups.

"Oh no you don't!" Lynn growled, leaping upward and catching the flying sandwich...nearly five feet in the air. She lands on her feet, blinking a little.

"Whoa...I've never seen your jump that high before." Her crush said after he finally caught up with her.

"That was so cool!" Lynn exclaimed, looking down at her own legs. "I wonder what else I can do as a werewolf." She pondered out loud before looking back to her burger. She quickly remembered that she was hungry, licking her lips as she was about to take a bite. "...wait a minute, this isn't right….I forgot the siracha."

"...you're really going to eat that?" Her teammate asked, a little sickened.

"Not without hot sauce." Lynn responded, searching the table for the sauce.

'...maybe being a werewolf changed her taste…' Francisco thought, unable to even consider the idea of eating bat.

"Hey, Francisco. Have you tried these ribs?" Albert asked, his own plate full and some barbeque sauce on his face. "They're delicious."

"No, I haven't. What kind are they?" The boy asked warily.

"Beef, I think. Certainly not pork. Have a try." The bulky gentlemen handed a plate with a rib on it to the boy. He was, naturally, hesitant, but his stomach was growling. He picked up the rib by the bone and took a bite of the meat.

"...hey. This is really good." Francisco said, picking the rib bone clean in a matter of seconds. "Don't think it's beef though. A little too gamey to be beef."

"You're right. It isn't beef." One of the ghosts keeping the table stocked confirmed as he put out some more ribs. "It's crocodile."

"...crocodile?"

"Huh...I never imagined crocodile would taste so much like beef." Albert commented, though the news didn't stop him from eating more. Nor did it stop Francisco, since he found it delicious anyway (and he was really hungry).

* * *

"Ok, boys...you know what to do?" Freako asked, as he, Shreiko and Meeko got dressed up as the ghostly wait staff for the event.

"Naturally. We dress up like waiters, pass out some horse duvers, and keep an eye on the Were Lynn of Transylvania." Shreiko reiterated the plan, fiddling with his bow tie.

"Exactly right. And don't goof up. If the Count picks up on the fact we don't really work here, we'll be out on our ears and outta luck."

"No problem, Freako." The cap wearing ghost said, picking up a tray with a pitcher of water, juice and wine.

"Aye aye, Captain." The thinner of the two specters saluted their leader, before floating away. Freako was far from reassured, but he had no time to reflect upon his reservations. He grabbed his own tray and headed for the kitchen.

* * *

Luna smiled lightly as she stood off to the side of the dance floor, close to the stage. Tempted as she was to dance, she wanted to wait until this special band Dracula mentioned arrived. So, instead, she took to texting Sam, telling her what's been going on since she left. She was so focused on her phone that she didn't notice someone dancing rather close to her. She didn't notice, that is, until he bumped into her. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" He growled with a sneer. He was about a foot shorter than Luna, with spiky black hair, ice blue skin, and pointed fangs. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt with a fanged skull on it, a studded leather choker, black jeans and sneakers. On his hands were black fingerless gloves, and he had a nose ring and earrings as well. Just looking at him made Luna cringe, thinking someone was trying too hard.

"Dude, I was just standing here. You're the one who wasn't looking." She retorted.

"What!? How dare you! Don't you know who I am!?"

"Should I?" The brunette teen asked, her arms crossed.

"I am the vampire prince, Nostufaro! Star of the 'Touched by a Vampire' drama series!"

"Don't you mean Nosferatu?"

"No! That is the old fashioned vampire! I am the next generation of vampire! The superior generation!" He shouted at her, glaring at her with burning anger.

"Yeesh. Calm down...you have to admit, they sound similar."

"You bump into me with no apology-"

"You bumped into me!"

"SILENCE! You bump into me, refuse to apologize, and now you mock me! I'll teach you some respect!" He raised his hand, ready to back hand slap her (in spite of the fact he would have to stand on his tiptoes to reach her face). Luna stepped back, holding up her fists in preparation to fight back. There was no need, however, for a snake like tail wrapped around his hand and pulled him off his feet, knocking him onto his back.

"And I'll teach you to keep your hands to yourself." Kaspa said with a smirk.

"Kaspa?" Luna asked in surprise.

"Good to see you too, Luna." She replied, releasing Nostufaro's hand.

"How dare you!" The vampire teen roared, quickly jumping back up. By now, he was starting to generate a lot of attention from everyone in the room, including Lynn, who had just about finished her bat burger.

"How dare us? How dare you! You're the one being a rude rude baby!"

"This is why mortals shouldn't even be allowed in Transylvania!" The undead brat spat, his focus exclusively on Luna. He didn't notice the glares he was getting from Albert, Francisco, the Boo Brothers, Kaspa, and especially Dracula and Lynn. "Garbage! Common gutter trash! That's all you humans are! Good for nothing other than blood donations! So why don't you do the world a favor and throw yourself from the highest tower!?" The fur laden Loud growled, tossing the last bit of her burger aside before seemingly vanishing in a blur or red, white and brown.

"How about you do us all a favor, and SHUT UP!" Lynn shouted, the pompous vampire turning his head just in time to see a raging werewolf pouncing on him, tackling him right to the ground. To say she was angry would be an understatement. She was positively ticked, her fangs bared and the object of her rage pinned below her. She was snarling like an attack dog.

"Help! Help! Someone get this mangy flea bag off me!"

"Gimme one good reason not to rip you apart!" The WereLynn growled.

"Because if you do, you'll be disqualified from the race." Cerano said from their left, causing the lycan girl to turn her head toward the ghoul, who seemed to be enjoying the spectacle. "...which will leave you a werewolf for the rest of your days. Do you want that?" This only further stretched the athletic Loud's patience, leaving her borderline foaming at the mouth.

"Let him go, Lynn." Dracula instructed, calmly and firmly as he stepped over to the commotion. "I vill handle this."

"Grrrrrrr…..fine." She conceded, slowly getting off the blood sucker.

"That's right, fur ball. Learn your place." Nostufaro said with a sneer as he slowly stood up.

"I could say the same to you, vhelp." The vampire lord said sharply, catching the pretentious teen's attention and fear. "I vill not tolerate you harassing any of my honored guests. If you have a problem vith them, you have a problem vith me." He leaned in closer, causing the tv star to flinch in horror. "Do you VANT a problem vith me?"

"N...No, Lord Dracula….not at all…" He whimpered in terror.

"Good. Then carry on." Vlad said, straightening up and walking back to where he was greeting guests.

"You got lucky Lord Dracula intervened, you furry waste of skin." Nostufaro told Lynn in a hushed voice. "Or I would have given you what for…"

"Pfft. You were about one step away from wetting yourself when I said I'd rip you apart." She responded loud enough for others to hear, causing most of the bystanders to start laughing. The vampire teen blushed, gritting his teeth in fury. However, he didn't dare defy the Count, so he simply walked off into the crowd, mentally swearing vengeance.

"I probably could have handled that myself, but I appreciate the assist Lynn. Same to you, Kaspa." Luna said to her sister and the gorgon with a smile.

"What are sisters for?" Lynn responded with a smile.

"Same goes for friends." Kaspa added, slithering over to the Loud sisters, while the party started returning to musical teen looked over at the smiling serpent like girl, wondering if she could really consider her a friend. 'I mean, I don't know her that well...but she hasn't been anything short of nice to Lynn, and she did help me out...maybe it's worth a chance.'

"Thanks Kaspa. You're alright." The sporty Loud said with a smile, giving her a light punch in the arm. This made the young gorgon blush a little, giggling. "I wonder what that creep's problem is…."

"I've heard about him online. He's supposed to be some kind of big star here in Transylvania." Kaspa explained. "Some kind of long running tv show. Public opinion on him is split: some love him, some think he's a fat head. But one thing is certainly clear...he's not shy about expressing his thoughts on humans."

"I can tell." Luna muttered, leering in the direction the teen vampire had gone.

"Great...another Malora…" Lynn growled. "Like one wasn't bad enough."

"Who?"

"Short version, she's this mean girl back home in Royal Woods...gave our friend Zanya a lot of trouble a few months back." The Were Loud told her. "Thankfully, she's rotting in jail where she belongs." Just then, Lynn's stomach growled making her blush. "Whoa...being so angry isn't helping my hunger...I'll catch you guys by the buffet."

"Catch you later, sis." Luna replied, her sister hurrying off back to the food, Kaspa watching her the whole way, a bit of pink in her cheeks. "Hmmm? What's with you, Kas?"

"Oh, nothing." She replied, her eyes still on Lynn as she started loading a plate.

'Hmmm. Just like last time.' The third eldest sibling thought to herself. 'I wonder…'

* * *

Dracula had just greeted the last arrival he was aware of and watched as they joined the others on the dance floor. He was quite pleased with the turn out. He had to admit that Cerano had done a good job getting attention for the marathon. Before he could step away, he found a new guest approaching; a humanoid, silvery shark creature in a fine, pinstripe suit, and carrying a cane with him. The vampire lord seemed very surprised to see him; surprised, yet pleased. "Mr Thrasher. I vas not expecting you."

"Evening, Dracula." The shark man replied in a gruff, but pleasant voice. "Apologies for crashing the party, but I wished to check on my investment, you see…"

"But of course, Mr Thrasher. Come right in. And if you vish to see Mr Rotters, he is around here somevhere."

"You always were one of the good ones, Drac." Razortooth said, giving him a firm slap on the back before heading to the buffet table. Vlad was a little shaken, but recovered his cool pretty quickly. He made sure that no further unexpected guests were going to arrive before he signalled to a vampiress with long black hair and a form fitting magenta dress. She nodded to him and made her way to the stage before he magically disengaged the jukebox.

"Young, ghoulish athletes, monstrous guardians, and honored guests alike." The lovely vampiress said in the most upbeat tone from the stage. "Welcome all to our darling Dracula's home, and to this party in honor of the first (hopefully) annual Monster Marathon race. I am sure you would all love to return to enjoying the marvelous food and fantastic music, but before you do, we have a few things we need to say. So, without further ado, the master of the castle, Count Dracula!" She stepped to the side as Dracula appeared on stage in a puff of smoke.

"Thank you, Vanna Pira, and thank you all, not only for attending the party in honor of the race, but for showing your interest in participating as vell. It does my dark heart proud to see so many young monsters interested in this race, even if I am not behind the event myself. And on that note, I vish to give a special thank you to the ghoul behind the Monster Marathon. The one who organized everything up to this point. Mr Cerano Rotters." A spot light shone on the crowd as the well to do ghoul smirked and stepped forward and on stage, the audience giving him a polite round of applause.

"Thank you, Dracula. I must say, your Monster Road Rally was a massive inspiration for my creation of the marathon. I was a big fan of the roadster race for years in my youth, and watching it every year taught me a lot of this; particularly, how NOT to run a race." Cerano gave a wheezy laugh, shared by his cousin and a few others. The rest just looked surprised at his audacity. Razortooth himself frowned slightly at this as he tore into a cockatrice wing. "I kid. I kid. But moving on. This even wouldn't have been possible without the talented young athletes currently in the castle tonight, so give yourselves a big old round of applause!" That was more a crowd pleaser as all the participants gave out a thunderous cheer. "That's what I like to hear. And now, allow me to introduce our competitors for the first annual Monster Marathon. First, hailing from Transylvania, the hometown hero from good ol' T High. The ghoul. The myth. The legend. Zeral!" Another cacophony of cheers came up from the locals in the crowd, particularly the monster ladies. The four legged zombie strutted up to the stage, waving to the crowd in a 'yeah, I'm awesome' manner.

"Fat head…" Lynn muttered angrily.

"Always a pleasure, Zeral. Next up, also from Transylvania. You may know him as Bram from the popular show 'Touched by a Vampire'. The vampire prince, Nostufaro!" The pretentious blood sucker made his way to the stage, his nose in the air. Some of the other participants booed him, while others screamed with delight. He just leered at them all before he joined Zeral. "Wonderful. Next on the list, hailing from Crete, just off Greece; the serpentine enchantress. The glorious gorgon. Kaspa!" A fresh wave of polite cheers sounded as Kaspa slithered excitedly on stage, waving to all the monsters in the crowd. She blows a few kisses to the audience before looking at Lynn, winking to her and blowing one more to her. The sporty werewolf blinked and looked around behind her, wondering she was looking at.

Cerano continued to introduce each of the racers that had accepted his invite to the race: a Frankenstein-ish teen boy named Bolten Jr. A pair of identical witch twins named Merriweather and Merribel, who fought constantly when they got to the stage. A jogging ghost boy named Forrester. A man/fish creature called Glorbi. A living doll named Talking Tina. The list went on. There were nearly thirty participants on stage, with Lynn still waiting to be called. "And last, but certainly not least, from Royal Woods, Michigan, USA...Lynn Loud Jr." He introduced simply, the ponytailed werewolf leaping into the air and performing a triple spin in the air before landing on the stage.

"WHOO!" She cried out as she raised her fists into air, facing the audience. Only her grandfather, her sister, her crush, Kaspa, and Dracula applauded her. She paused for a moment, her arms falling as her face went sour.

"Very nice." Cerano commented, ignoring Lynn. "Our racers, ladies and gentlemen, who will, in one weeks time, all be running through scenic Transylvania for glory, prestige and, of course, many fabulous prizes. Vanna, if you would be so kind?"

"My pleasure, Mr Rotters." Vanna Pira replied with a bright smile, retaking the stage. "First off, for the families of everyone who entered the race, just for entering the race, we have…" The curtain spread open to reveal a knife block with a set of knives in it. "...a full set of Jack T.R. knives. The finest in culinary cleaving, carving and slicing, designed after the original Jack T.R.'s own knife. From Ripper Inc. Remember, if it's made to slice, it's a Ripper!"

"Wow. Dad could really put that to use in the kitchen." Lynn commented to herself.

"As for our young racers themselves…" The curtain closed again, as servants behind the scenes swapped out the admittance prizes. "...for their participation in the race, they will receive their own pair….of Zeral Jets!" A pair of silver colored running sneakers were revealed, with a big Z emblazoned on the side. "That's right. The very running shoes used by high school track superstar, Zeral! Designed to be tough on the outside, but soft on the inside...like a coffin. These shoes are guaranteed to outlast the user."

'Geez...he even gets a free plug for this race...favoritism much?' Luna griped in her head, frowning.

"Our third place runner up can look forward to looking fabulous with this: a $100 transylvanian dollar gift card to Arachnae's!" This time, a wide screen tv was lowered from the ceiling behind her, showing a slideshow of pictures of a fancy looking store filled with fine clothes...and spider webs. "That's right. Step out in style with the finest silks, created by master weavers and spinners. Don't see anything you like? They can craft entirely custom outfits for you while you wait. Arachnae's; supplying fine clothes since the Trojan War."

"That sounds lovely. I could use a new dress." The ambulatory doll said, in a voice that sounded like it was coming from a voice box. It kind of unnerved the WereLynn.

"As for our second place runner up, I hope you like off road adventure; because you'll be making your own on your very own MM Dirt Bike!" She declared as a brand new, shiny, camo green dirt bike, which immediately caught Lynn's eye was revealed. "Whether on flat land, rocky terrain, or especially muddy marshes, MM bikes are built tough and designed to resist stains, rust and dents. How, you ask? They were built by real Mud Monsters, who really know dirt. MM bikes: Transylvanian tough, or their name is mud."

"Whoa! It's a shame I plan to get first...I'd like to get my hands on that."

"And, for our race winner, an all expenses, week long vacation to…..The Bermuda Triangle!" The television screen was lowered one last time to show clips of a massive, top of the line cruise ship. "That's right, rowdy runners. Our first place winner and their family will get to enjoy seven lovely days and nights cruising to and inside the mysterious and mystical Bermuda Triangle." Mr Thrasher was right in the middle of taking a drink of wine when he heard that, causing him to spit it out. Just then, Lynn raised her hand. "Hmm? Oh, yes, dear? You had a question?"

"Yeah, for Mr Rotters...when you say the winner and their family-" She started to say.

"I am referring to their immediate family, yes." He interrupted her. "Parents, siblings...a grandparent I suppose…." Lynn smirked when she heard this, Luna, Pop Pop and Francisco all started snickering, and even Dracula had to restrain himself to keep from laughing. Cerano just raised an eyebrow, wondering if she knew something he didn't.

'Well, alright then. As I was saying-" Vanna continued, her high spirits not diminished in the slightest by the momentary interruption. "-Not only that, but the winner will also get the honor of possessing the Monster Marathon cup!" The last image shown on the tv screen was that of a shining platinum trophy, with MM emblazoned on the front and a few running monsters below it.

"That trophy's gonna look good in the family case." Lynn commented to herself.

"Dream on, fuzzy wuzzy. I've got this race in the bag." Zeral said snidely, shoving her slightly. She growled at him, but, fortunately, Dracula intervened before things could get any more serious.

"Thank you, Vanna, and thank you once more, Mr Rotters." He said as he retook the stage. "And to our talented young track fiends, I vish you all the best of luck. This marathon will no doubt push you all to your very limits. So train like you've never trained before...tomorrow. Tonight, on the other hand, is a night of celebration. Enjoy yourselves." He said as the racers started to descend from the stage. Just then, one of the ghostly servants floated up to Vlad and whispered into his ear. "They're here? Finally. How soon can they get set up?" A few more seconds of whispering. "Fang-tastic." He muttered with a smile before he faced the audience and cleared his throat. "And while we are on the topic of enjoyment, it is my great pleasure to introduce, for your listening pleasure, the lovely wiccans of rock and roll. Ladies and Gentlemen….the Hex Girls!"

"Wait...did he just say…?" Luna asked, in a state of shock at what she thought she heard. Fog started to billow from under the curtain as it started to open. Standing behind the curtain were three young women, each dressed in black and with a unique instrument. The first had long black hair, wore a red bat necklace around her neck, and carried a blood red guitar shaped like a bat. The second was standing behind a keyboard, had frizzy red hair, and a purple gem amulet around her neck, with matching fingerless gloves. The third was sitting at a teal drum set, had yellow hair, and wore a black choker with turquoise studs, and an X shaped pendant. Luna's eyes widened as a big smile spread across her face as the raven haired woman grinned, revealing a set of fangs.

"Hit it, sisters." She told her bandmates, the three of them starting to play and the guitarist started to sing.

 _I'm gonna cast a spell on you._

 _You're gonna do what I tell you to._

 _Mix it up here in my little bowl_

 _Say a few words and you lose control!_

 _Upon starting the chorus, her fellow musicians joined in:_

 _I'm a Hex Girl, and I'm gonna put a spell on you!_

 _Gonna put a spell on you!_

 _I'm a Hex Girl, and I'm gonna put a spell on you!_

 _Gonna put a spell on you!_

"Wow! They're pretty good, aren't they?" Albert commented with a smile as he watched the performance.

"Good!? Pop Pop, do you know who they are!?" Luna asked, looking ready to burst. "They're Thorne, Dusk and Luna; the Hex Girls! They're one of the GREATEST bands of all time!"

"Another brilliant musician named Luna? What are the odds, eh?"

"Pffeh. Brilliant, my foot!" Nostufaro spat derisively. "Simply a bunch of mortal vamp posers!" The moment he said that, it was as if he could feel the temperature around him drop several degrees. He looked around, noticing all the cold, furious glares he was getting, none more angry than Luna's. Sensing this was NOT a favorable position to be in, the undead brat beat a hasty withdrawal deeper into the crowd.

 _You'll feel the fog as I cloud your mind._

 _You'll get dizzy when I make the sign._

 _You'll wake up in the dead of night,_

 _Missing me when I'm out of sight!_

 _I'm a Hex Girl, and I'm gonna put a spell on you!_

 _Gonna put a spell on you!_

 _I'm a Hex Girl, and I'm gonna put a spell on you!_

 _Gonna put a spell on you!_

Lynn grinned as she and Francisco started to dance along to the music. "Haha! Luna wasn't kidding. They rock!"

"Yeah." Her crush replied, blushing lightly as he looked over at the dancing werewolf girl. "I guess the spell the put on us was one for dancing." Lynn laughed softly at that. Meanwhile, edging over to them on Lynn's opposite side, Kaspa was smiling at Lynn. Her entire lower body swayed along to the music.

"Great music, isn't it?"

"Oh, definitely!" Lynn responded. "Francisco, this is Kaspa. Kaspa, Francisco."

"How do you do?" The gorgon said politely with a smile.

"Hi." Francisco replied, not as nervous as he was earlier. Perhaps he was becoming used to being around all kinds of monsters. Perhaps it was the music calming him. He wasn't sure, but he didn't feel as afraid.

"So, are you her brother?"

"Nah. My brother's at Grimwood's school. He's….uh…a very good friend of mine." Lynn said with a blush and a silly grin. She hadn't yet confessed her true feelings to him. This answer seemed to please the gorgon as the three of them continue to boogie to the Hex Girls.

 _With this little cobweb potion,_

 _You'll go into dark devotion._

 _If you ever lose affection,_

 _I can change your whole direction!_

 _I'm a Hex Girl, and I'm gonna put a spell on you!_

 _Gonna put a spell on you!_

 _I'm a Hex Girl, and I'm gonna put a spell on you!_

 _We're gonna put a spell on all of you!_

As the song came to a close, the entire ballroom went into thunderous applause, with Luna cheering loudly over the din. The Hex Girls smiled and bowed to all the monsters before them.

"Care for a horse duver, little lady?" Shreiko asked, leaning over to Lynn with a tray of little snacks.

"A what!?" The athletic werewolf asked, disgusted.

"I think he means hors d'oeuvre, sport." Albert explained, leaning in for a look, picking a finger sandwich (thankfully not literal this time).

"Oh. Sure thing." Lynn opted for something looking like a pig in a blanket, while Francisco helped himself to something akin to pate on toast. "Say...you look familiar…" The tall, goofy ghost felt a twinge of panic when she said that. "...you ever been on tv before?"

"Oh. Nah...but I do think I got the look fer tv." Shreiko said, posing real quick and accidently tossing the tray of food over his shoulder.

"GAH!" Zeral roared as the tray smacked him and food got all over him.

"...Oops." The thin ghost grinned nervously as he turned to face the furious ghoul. One look at him sent Lynn into a fit of laughter. "Clumsy me. I guess dinner's on you. Nyuk nyuk nyuk." This only seemed to make the ghoul even more angry, and fill the werewolf girl with more mirth.

"You buffoon! How dare you! I will see you fired for this!" The four legged undead screamed into Shreiko's face.

"Alright alright! What's going on here!?" Freako demanded to know, his hands on his non-existent hips.

"This fool dumped a tray of food upon me!"

"It was an accident, pal…"

"Relax, sir. I'm his boss. I'll handle this." The frizzle haired ghost told him.

"See that you do…"

"Meeko, help this fella get cleaned up." The bald ghost nodded to Freako before leading Zeral away to towel him off. "As fer you, headknuckle, what's the matter with you?"

"I'm a victim of circumstance…." Shreiko replied with a nervous shrug.

"Yer about to be a victim of hit and run…" Freako growled, rolling up his 'sleeves'. His beating of his goofball brother was interrupted by Lynn's hysterics. She was double over in laughter watching them.

"You guys are a scream!" She finally said through her laughter. "You really should consider going onto tv. You'd be a hit."

"That's nice of you to say, kid, but we're more the freelance type." The ghostly leader explained to her before returning to glare at Shreiko. "Get to the kitchen, butterfingers! I'm not having you out here where you can waste perfectly good food on customers' heads!"

"Yes sir! yeesh, what a grouch…" Sheirko grumbled before floating off. At the moment, Meeko returned, only to receive a smack to the back of the head.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"In case you goof up and I'm not around to catch it. It's called a preemptive strike. Now get back to work!" Meeko whimpered for a moment before soaring off. The stocky ghost sighed as he shook his head, giving Lynn and Albert a 'see what I have to work with?' look and gesture before he himself wafted away.

"Hmmm. Strange…" Dracula muttered to himself, having witnessed the event personally. "I don't remember hiring them…" He smirked a bit and chuckled. "But I suppose for that, I should give them a raise."

"Idiot ghost…" Zeral growled, all cleaned but still fuming.

"Oh, quit your belly aching." Lynn said after she finally calmed down. "It was just an accident. Besides, one who claims to be so fast should have been able to easily avoid it."

"Don't talk to me about speed, you mangy mutt!" The ghoul snapped, waving his fist at the werewolf. "I'm the fastest creature in all creation!"

"Hah! The only thing about you that's fast is how quick you run your mouth!"

"You want to back that up, werewolf!?" He asked with barely contained rage.

"In a heartbeat!" Lynn responded with confidence. "Not that you know anything about that." She said as a passing shot.

"It appears we have a little exhibition match…" Cerano said, appearing as if from nowhere and smirking. "Vlad, if we could adjourn outside for a moment to settle this?"

"...I suppose. But ve vill accompany you." Dracula responded, to which Albert nodded in agreement.

"That is entirely unnecessary...but it is your old fashioned house, your old fashioned party, and your old fashioned rules." Cerano answered with a shrug. "Let us go…"

* * *

Moments later, Lynn and Zeral were both outside on the road leading from the front door to the castle gate. The werewolf girl started doing some stretches while Zeral stood there, arms crossed. Dracula was standing just outside the front door with Albert and Cerano, keeping a close eye on them, just like the Hunch Bunch watching them from the bushes. Not only that, but one last person was witnessing from a window: Mr Thrasher.

"On your marks!" Dracula called out, with the two racers getting into position. "Get set!...GO!" The moment the word go left his lips, the two of them rocketed off in a blur. The vampire lord and Lynn's grandfather just watched with dropped jaws, while Cerano was just smirking. Lynn looked forward to see that Zeral had taken an early lead against her, sprinting from the start. She smirked as she picked up the pace, catching up to him in a few milliseconds. The ghoul looked astonished when he saw her next to him. Gritting his teeth, he kicked all four legs into overdrive to try and speed away from her. It was the ponytailed werewolf's turn to be shocked as he got further ahead, but she wasn't licked yet in her eyes. She starts running as fast as she could, running so fast that her sneakers were starting to smoke. The ghoul glanced back and, to his horror, saw the werewolf girl starting to catch up again. However, she couldn't quite get past him, and he ran under the gate about an inch ahead of her. The race only lasted a total of five seconds. The two of them were gasping for breath, Lynn pulling off her sneakers as she noticed the soles were completely trashed.

"H….H…..Ha! I beat you, werewolf…." Zeral gasped, a manic grin on his face.

"Perhaps you did, Zeral...but Miss Loud was just a hair from beating you." Dracula informed him with a fang bearing smirk.

"Your eyes are failing you, you crusty old relic….right Cerano?" Zeral called back to his cousin, who had a disbelieving look on his face at what he had witnessed. "Right?" He inquired again, but received no response. "...cousin?"

"You ok there, sport?" The pudgy grandfather asked Lynn in concern.

"Pop Pop….I'm faster than ever." She told him with a grin. "I can move faster, jump higher...might even be stronger. This being a werewolf isn't so bad after all."

"Heh. I'm glad you're seeing a bright side to this." Albert said, patting her on the back. "But as soon as the race is over, you're still being changed back."

"I know, Pop Pop. But now that I know this, I'm gonna enjoy it for as long as it lasts." She looked over as Zeral and Cerano, who were speaking in low, concerned voices. "...and I'm gonna train my literal tail off, just to beat that jerk." She smirked, showing off her fangs. Meanwhile, inside the castle, Razortooth Thrasher was rubbing his chin a bit, intrigued at what he just saw. That little werewolf had some serious potential. Might be worth keeping an eye on her, he thought as he started to return to where the party was being held. He would talk to Cerano about his investment later.

* * *

 _AN: Sorry it took so long. Had a lot to jam into this chapter to move the story along, plus wanted to bring in the Hex Girls. If you'd like to see more of them in future chapters, let me know and I'll see what I can do about giving them a bigger role. Right now, I can guarantee they will be in the next chapter too. Also, before anyone asks, I will name and introduce other racers as I need them to appear, if it's important to do so. Didn't want to go introducing nearly thirty more characters if they weren't all going to be used outside of passing mentions._


	6. Chapter 6

Complications

Back inside, at the party…

The Hex Girls were getting ready for their next song, tuning their instruments and getting a drink of water (delivered by Meeko). During their brief break, Luna Loud took the opportunity to approach the stage with a big smile. "Hey ladies." The three musicians turned their heads to her when she spoke. Thorne looked the rock and roll Loud over for a moment before she smiled lightly.

"Hey." She responded. "What can we do for you?"

"Just wanted to say you girls rock. I love your music."

"Thanks kid." Dusk said, her eyes narrowing a bit as she looked at her. "Say...you look familiar...were you at one of our recent concerts?"

"I wish! I had to babysit the one time you gals were in Michigan." She replied. "Caught it on TV though, so thank goodness for small blessings."

"What's your name, missy?" The red headed Luna asked, leaning against her keyboard.

"Luna Loud."

"Luna? Just like me." She laughed softly, her fangs glinting a bit in the light. "Isn't that a funny thing?"

"Wait. Now I remember where I've seen her before." Dusk said, her eyes opening and a grin appearing on her face. "She's the girl who turned the whole 'America's Next Hitmaker' thing on its head." Upon hearing that, the brunette Luna blushed a bit, giggling.

"Hehehe. Yeah, I kinda did." She said. "But can you blame me? They wanted me to change who I was...they wanted to take my love of music…"

"Don't you think that's a little extreme?" Thorne asked with a raised eyebrow.

"...they wanted me to lip sync from then on."

"...I take it back." The raven haired lady amended with a shudder.

"In which case, the chaos was justified. Good for you, Luna." Dusk told her.

"You any good, Little Lu?" The older Luna asked curiously.

"I like to think I rock out loud."

"That so?" Thorne grinned to her. "Care to back that up?"

"...now I REALLY wish I had brought my ax with me…" Luna bemoaned, thinking this was her one chance to play alongside the Hex Girls, and it was slipping away.

"I think Thorne brought an extra." Dusk piped up. She stepped backstage for a moment, then returned carrying a second bat guitar. It was clearly older, in a royal purple color, but looked like it could still work.

"In that case….glady." Luna said, a 'challenge accepted' grin on her face. She jumped onto the stage and caught the guitar when Dusk tossed it to her. She took a moment to get used to it and tune it before she nodded to the band leader. She nodded back and they got ready for the next song.

 _Thorne: Earth, wind, fire and air!_

 _All: We may look bad_

 _but we don't care._

 _Thorne: We ride the wind!_

 _We feel the fire!_

 _To love the Earth is our one desire._

 _All: To love the Earth is our one desire._

 _Thorne: Love the earth, it's only fair._

 _Luna Loud: It's one big Earth that we must share._

 _All: We love the Earth with all our fire._

 _Thorne & LL: It's in our souls, our one desire._

 _Thorne: Earth, wind, fire and air!_

 _All: We may look bad_

 _but we don't care._

 _Thorne: We ride the wind!_

 _We feel the fire!_

 _To love the Earth is our one desire._

 _All: To love the Earth is our one desire._

 _LL: Nature is a precious gift._

 _Thorne: It will make your spirits lift._

 _All: Love the Earth with all your fire._

 _Thorne & LL: It's in your soul, your one desire._

 _Thorne: Earth, wind, fire and air!_

 _All: We may look bad_

 _but we don't care._

 _Thorne: We ride the wind!_

 _We feel the fire!_

 _To love the Earth is our one desire._

 _All: To love the Earth is our one desire!_

"Hey, you are pretty good, Loud." Dusk commented through the wave of applause from the party goers still in the castle.

"Thanks." Luna replied with a grin, handing back the guitar. "Oh, if it's not asking too much...could I please get a pic with you gals?"

"If you can wait until after the show, sure." Thorne replied with a small smile.

"Sure thing. Hehehe. Sam and Lucy are gonna freak out." A very giddy Luna said, giggling.

"Friends of yours?"

"Actually, Lucy is one of my little sisters, and Sam is my best gal."

"One of? How many sisters do you have, Little Lu?" The Hex Girl Keyboardist inquired.

"Nine sisters, and a brother." You could have knocked the Hex Girls over with a feather when the musically inclined Loud told them that.

"That...is some big family." An amazed Dusk said after a few seconds of silence.

"It sure is, dudette, but it's an awesome family too."

* * *

A few minutes later, Cerano and Zeral had returned to the party and retreated to a corner far from the dance floor. After ensuring there was no one nearby, they started to talk quietly. "Now Zeral….I have every bit of faith in your racing abilities…" Cerano started to tell him. "...but what happened out there...that was too close."

"It was a fluke." Zeral responded angrily. "No way that newly made mutt is anywhere near my skill level…"

"...I can't take any chances with that, Zeral. I bet a bundle on you...And that bet is my failsafe in case this race doesn't profit as much as I hoped…" The well to do ghoul explained. "Damn it, I'm starting to regret turning that brat into a werewolf…"

"You're not worried about what Fangs said, are you?"

"Certainly not. I can handle an antique like Vlad. It's more Mr Thrasher I'm worried about." He responded. "In my contract, I promised to pay him back right after the marathon...and he is not a patient man when it comes to being repaid. Right now, the way I figure it, I'll about break even if ticket sales are good, possibly profit if we're sold out."

"You've got nothing to worry about, coz." Zeral told him, patting him on the back. "Remember, this is Fleet Foot you're talking to. Fuzzy Wuzzy? She got lucky. Nobody can beat Zeral. NOBODY."

"I do hope I'm not interrupting." Razortooth said suddenly, Cerano darn near screaming at the sound of his voice.

"Mr Thrasher! What a surprise...I didn't know you were invited…"

"I wasn't, but Drac and I go way back, and he let me stick around so I could see how my investment was working out, and speak to you." The shark man stepped closer to the two, giving a toothy smile. It was intended to be friendly, but being a shark, it came off a LOT more intimidating. "And by the look of it, you seem to be putting my loan to...some use."

"This party is all on Vlad's dime, not mine…" Cerano said quickly.

"I was referring to the prizes. Jack T.R. knife sets? Your cousin's overpriced shoes? A weeklong cruise?"

"Overpriced!?" Zeral piped up, but immediately shut up when Razortooth leered at him.

"Mr Thrasher, trust me on this one." The nervous zombie said, trying to sound smooth. "I've done the math. Here. Have a look see." He pulled a sheet of paper from his coat pocket and opened it up for the aquatic predator. "With the buzz about the race, the fact my famous cousin is participating, and affordable ticket prices, we should more than profit should the race sell out (which I am certain it will). Even if we only sell sixty percent of the tickets, you'll still get your money back and then some." The shark man quietly examined his math for a moment. "As for the cruise prize...let's not kid ourselves. Who else is going to win other than Zeral?"

"I don't know about that. From what I saw, Miss Loud gave your cousin a literal run for his money." Razortooth said as he handed back the paper, causing the ghouls to go pale...er.

"You….saw that?"

"Of course. However, judging by your math, I would say you don't have much to worry about." He told them, sounding pleased. "Even with the free tickets for the families of the participants to witness the race, you'll still be golden."

"Hehe. Well, I'm not just a pretty face, Mr Thrasher." Cerano said with a bit of an overconfident grin. "I've got brains as well."

"Well, don't let them got to your head." Razortooth joked with a gurgling chuckle. "Any rate, I think I'm done here. We'll keep in touch, Mr Rotters. Good evening."

"Good evening, Mr Thrasher." Mr Rotters responded cheerily as the shark faced banker departed. "...Zeral. You are winning that race."

"Of course I-"

"No, cousin. You don't understand. You. Are. Winning." Cerano told him seriously. "I will make sure of that."

"I thought you said-"

"I know what I said...but what I'm saying now is we have to make sure Lynn Loud doesn't win….in fact, I don't think she'll even make it to the race…"

* * *

The rest of the party went without incident, lasting well into the night. Dracula and all of his brides were bidding all their guests good evening, but when Francisco, Lynn and her family reached them, the vampire lord stopped them, directing them to step aside. "Is something wrong, Count?" Luna asked, a little worried.

"No, Miss Loud. In fact, I was going to invite you all to stay in my castle for the duration of the event." He explained with a soft smile.

"Really?" Lynn inquired, a hint of excitement in her voice.

"With all due respect, Vlad…" Cerano piped up, The blonde, brunette and red headed bride of Dracula bared their fangs at him, but the vampire lord held them all back, while Vanna just looked stunned at his cheek. "...I am more than capable of housing a few participants of MY race."

"I am sure you are, Mr Rotters." Dracula replied calmly. "However, I do believe it is the call of Miss Loud, or perhaps her guardian Mr Albert, to decide vhere she vill say. Do correct me if I am mistaken." He said with a smirk. The ghoul just glared at Dracula, as he was absolutely right.

"Given the choice…" Lynn said, so clearly pretending to think about it. "...I think I'd prefer to stay here, in Castle Dracula."

"That makes two of us, sport." Albert added.

"Three is a magic number, and I make three." Luna said.

"I think..I would prefer it too." Francisco shakily agreed.

"Then it is unanimous." Vlad said with a smirk, mostly at Cerano's clear frown. "I have already taken the liberty of having your things brought here, to our finest guest rooms. Vanna, if you would be so kind...I have a little more business to attend to."

"Certainly, Drac, dear." The overly chipper bride replied, taking the four of them further into the castle and up to the upper levels, while Dracula remained to finish saying goodbye to his guests. Once the last of the guests had left and the ghost servants started cleaning up, the vampire father had stepped out into the castle grounds. To the casual observer, it looked like he was looking over his thorny hedges. In reality, he was looking for the Hunch Bunch, having spotted them earlier.

"Brunch. Crunch. Vhere are you?" He whispered into the bushes.

"Over here, Count." Brunch whispered, popping up from a briar bush and covered in thorns.

"Ah. Very good. Anything to report?"

"Nothing out here." The hunchback told him. "No suspicious attempts at entry...however, I do have something to report from earlier. A trio of ghosts were following Miss Loud throughout the day."

"A trio of ghosts, you say? Can you describe them?"

"Not in detail, I'm afraid...One is quite thin and tall, one rather fat, and one quite broad in the shoulders." Dracula thought for a moment. Didn't he see three ghosts that kind of fit that description earlier? It was then he remembered the incident with Zeral and the ghost waiter.

"...I dare say I've seen those ghosts tonight." He mentioned, more to himself.

"Begging your pardon, Count?"

"Those ghosts you described...they vere part of the wait staff. One of them dumped a tray of snacks onto Cerano's cousin...another yelled at the first, while the third cleaned Zeral up...they seemed like a pack of fools…"

"Possibly an act…" Brunch reasoned with a frown.

"Keep vatch over them vhen you can. Meanwhile, Miss Loud vill be staying in my castle, vhere ve can protect her." It was then Dracula picked up on the lack of a certain mush mouthed monster man. "Vhere is Crunch?"

"He's hiding out on the other side of the castle." Brunch explained. "This way, we can cover more ground."

"It's good to hear you're using your brains these days. Keep up the good work."

"Thank you, Mas...er...Count." Brunch said. At that moment, the front doors opened, forcing Brunch to duck back down. The Hex Girls had just stepped out of the castle, a few ghosts carrying their equipment to their band vehicle.

"Ah. Ladies. You have my gratitude for performing at our party." Dracula said, turning and approaching the young ladies in the band.

"You're quite welcome, Count." Thorne replied, giving him a light bow of the head out of respect. "Though...a little warning we would have been playing for real monsters...that would have been nice."

"I see. Sincerest apologies, ladies. Are you sure you wouldn't want to stay and see the race play out?" Thorne, Dusk and Luna looked at one another for a moment, not saying a word to one another before Dusk spoke up.

"We'll consider it, but for right now, we're really tired and just want to head back to our hotel."

"Of course. Have a safe trip and a good night's rest." Dracula responded, watching as the ghosts and ladies loaded up their tour bus and drove off on their way.

* * *

The next morning: Lynn had once more gotten up before everyone else, holing up in the bathroom as she looked at her red, puffy eyes. They weren't as bad as the night before, since she was tired from partying for so long and didn't cry for long before she fell asleep. She soaked a washcloth in cold water and rested them on her eyes for a while to clear them up before she emerged. When she returned, not only was Luna waking up (She and Luna got a room to themselves, with Albert and Francisco right next door), but there was a tray stacked with food: eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, roasted tomatoes, pancakes, the whole nine yards. 'Dracula sure knows how to treat his guests.' Lynn thought as she immediately started chowing down. She was so hungry, she didn't even notice how some of the food items tasted a bit different than she was used to. Once she had eaten her fill, it was time for her morning jog (not to mention for her to get some new shoes). And of course, once she headed off, the Boo Brothers flew off after her, watching her from high above. The werewolf girl was about twenty minutes into her run when she saw a bus parked on the side of the highway, with the hood up. Thinking they may need help, Lynn jogged over for a closer look.

"So, do you see what the problem could be, Luna?" came the voice of Thorne.

"I don't know…" The red headed Luna replied glumly, her face smudged with grease as she shook her head. "It seems like for every one thing I fix, another thing breaks…"

"Hey, Hex Girls." Lynn called out, jogging in place as she stopped by their bus. "Having a little trouble?"

"More than a little…" Dusk complained, looking at the engine compartment with irritation.

"Don't suppose you know a good mechanic, do you, kid?" Luna asked as she started cleaning up her hands and face.

"The best...but it's past her bedtime back home." She replied, hopping onto the vehicles bumper for a look inside.

"Just our luck...guess we'll have to call a tow truck." Thorne said with a sigh. While the musical trio considered their options, Lynn's ears perked up. She could hear something in the compartment. Like something tinkering with metal, and a soft snickering. Her eyes darted for a moment before she thrust her hand inside. Her fingers clamped down on something soft and wiggly.

"Hey! Lemme go! Lemme go!" A tiny voice squeaked.

"I think I found your problem." The werewolf girl said, pulling a little creature with a yellow body, a big blue head, and a bulbous red nose. It had a pair of plane wings sticking out of its head and a tail like an airplane.

"What….is that?" Dusk asked in utter bemusement.

"Ahem. My card." The creature stuck his arm out from behind Lynn's fingers, handing the Hex Girls his card. On it was printed M.A. Gremlin Esquire, Sabotage Specialist.

"A gremlin….just freaking perfect…" Luna grumbled. "That would explain how the darn thing kept breaking."

"Now we just need to figure out what to do with him now that we have him." Thorne said, her eyes on the tinkering imp.

"We could bite his head off at the start of our next concert." Dusk joked, getting laughs from her bandmates and Lynn. The gremlin gulped nervously.

"Tempting, but I think that's too dark for our band." Thorne replied with a smirk.

"Got a jar?" Lynn asked, keeping a tight grip on the creature. Luna nodded and entered the bus, returning moments later with an empty jelly jar. The WereLynn quickly stuffed the critter into the jar, then sealed it shut. The gremlin beat its little fists against the glass wall fearfully, to which the lycan girl responded by poking holes in the lid with one claw. "How's that?" The gremlin looked up at the topper, then gave her the signal of 'a-ok'. With that out of the way, Thorne got on her phone to call a tow truck.

"...what!? Three hours!?" She exclaimed. "Are you sure you can't get a truck here sooner? No?...well, thanks anyway…"

"There's a garage about a twenty minutes away. Maybe we can push it there." Lynn suggested, looking on her own phone's map app.

"...unless you're packing some super strength, I don't think even all of us could move that bus, Miss..."

"Loud. Lynn Loud." She responded, before she grinned, flexing her muscles. "And I'm pretty dang strong."

"Oh. You're one of Little Lu's sisters? She never said she had a werewolf sister." Luna said.

"Yeah...well, I didn't start as a werewolf…I'll explain while we move. One of you hop in and shift it to neutral." Lynn said, rubbing her hands together as she went around the back of the bus. The Hex Girls looked at one another for a moment before Dusk just shrugged and hopped inside the tour bus.

"...ok. It's in neutral…" She called out.

"Lynn, we appreciate the enthusiasm and the offer for help…." Thorne started to say as the WereLynn started to push on the back bumper of the bus. "...but there's no way the three of us can move a vehicle this-" She was unable to finish the thought when, with some grunting and effort from Lynn, the bus slowly started to move.

"Uh….tell me that's you guys moving the bus…." Dusk said, concern clear in her voice.

"Actually...that's Lynn. All by herself…" Thorne responded, hardly able to believe her eyes.

"Seriously!?" The blonde drummer leaned out the window, seeing her two bandmates standing off to the side. Seeing the werewolf girl pushing the bus all by herself, Thorne and Luna ran over and started to push with her. Unfortunately, their involvement didn't help as much as they would have thought. They were moving, but very slowly.

"What….a workout…" Lynn groaned as she kept the bus moving.

"This is going to take forever…." Thorne said, already starting to sweat from the strain.

"Hey there, folks. Have an accident?" A high pitched voice asked from behind them.

"No thanks. Already had one." Lynn responded without missing a beat. She looked back and, to her surprise, saw the Boo Brothers there. "Hey! You're the ghosts from yesterday!"

"Howdy kid, ladies. Looks like you could use a few extra hands." Freako said, floating along his brothers.

"Well, we aren't going to turn away a hand." Luna said.

"Then here you go." Shrieko started clapping to them, causing Freako to grab him by the nose.

"Not like that, you dumb dumb." He said, tossing the tall, thin specter underneath the vehicle.

"Whoa! Hey, you ok under there!?" Lynn asked, stopping her forward momentum to look underneath. She found the spirit laying on his side, looking just fine.

"Yeah. Just like him, though. Always throwing me under the bus. Nyuk nyuk nyuk." He quipped, getting a laugh out of Lynn and Thorne. Shrieko flew back out and, along with Meeko and Freako, started to help them push the bus along the road. It still wasn't going much faster even with their help, but it was a darned sight better then if it were just Lynn and the Hex Girls. It took them about an hour to push it to the nearest garage, leaving them all exhausted.

"I am glad that's over…" Thorne said, leaning against the bus as she caught her breath.

"You and us too, ma'am…" Meeko agreed, wiping sweat from his brow (somehow).

"That was intense…" Lynn commented, tired, but exhilarated.

"Well, at least we're in the shade now." Freako pointed out, everyone noticing they were in shadows...which they weren't seconds earlier. They looked up to see a man like creature at least four times their size, with an underbite and large tusk like fangs sticking out. His hair was stringy and covered his little eyes. He looked to be all muscle and was wearing a pair of coveralls. Things were dead silent for a moment, mostly as a result of fear from the humans and Boo Brothers, until…

"Howdy folks." The giant said in a surprisingly calm, soothing, friendly voice. "How might I help you?"

"uh...Our tour bus encountered a little trouble." Dusk spoke up, leaning out of the driver side window.

"Cause of this little guy." Lynn added, holding up the jar with the gremlin in it.

"Oh. I see. Hehe. Gremlins. Cute little critters, but a big old pain in the neck when it comes to machines." He said with a soft chuckle. "Now, let's have a look see, shall we?" He stomped over to the front of the car and pulled out something that looked like jeweler's eyepiece, putting it into his eye and looking at the engine. "Hmmm...Doesn't look too bad from this angle. Ma'am, you might want to step out of the bus." He told Dusk, who promptly disembarked, giving him the chance to lift the bus with one hand. "Oh...that doesn't look so good...little pest really did a number on it."

"Can you fix it, Mr….?" Thorne inquired.

"Torvald. Heratio L. Torvald, at your service. And of course we can fix it….but it'll be a few days before we can really work on it." He replied, putting the bus back down. "My partner and I are pretty swamped with work, but we'll get a closer look at it and give you an estimate as soon as we can."

"Thorne. Pleased to meet you." She replied, shaking the giant's hand before introducing her bandmates and Lynn. She then gave the giant her cell number, so he could contact her.

"Well, I guess we'll be sticking around Transylvania for a little while then…." Thorne said in a resigned tone, looking through her phone. "Gonna have to cancel our flight and extend our time at the hotel."

"Sorry that all happened to you…" Lynn said, trying to be comforting.

"Don't worry about it, Lynn. Sometimes, stuff happens." Luna said, as she took the gremlin in a jar from her. "Speaking of...do you have any recommendations of what we can do with the gremlin, Heratio?"

"Hmmmm. Well, you could call demon control, but they'll escape eventually. They always do. Otherwise, you might consider adopting-"

"No." The Hex Girls replied all together flatly.

"Fair enough. Well, demon control it is." Heratio said, headed toward the garage building.

"Thanks for your help, Lynn." Thorne said with an appreciative smile to the WereLynn.

"Anytime, though we couldn't have managed it without-" She turned toward the Boo Bros, but they had already gone. "Huh? Where'd they go?"

"Didn't even stick around to be thanked." Dusk commented with a raised eyebrow.

"...huh. Well, I'm sure we'll get a chance to see them again." The sporty Loud shrugged. "I mean, if they're freelance like they say, odds are we'll cross paths again. And speaking of paths, I better start on the path back to the castle. Luna and Pop Pop are probably getting worried." She quick drew her phone and hastily sent them a text explaining what happened (a trick she learned from Lori) before she bid good day to the Hex Girls and started running back toward the castle.

* * *

Many miles away, at Cerano's summer home, he was in his study, pacing about as he tapped his leathery forehead with his finger. He wasn't alone in there either. Three individuals seemed to be having a meeting with him. The first was a humanoid bat creature with a bright pink, spiked mohawk, a black leather jacket, studded leather boots and a switchblade that he was using to pick around his hand claws. Right beside him was a figure hidden under a fedora and trenchcoat, as well as black leather gloves, and bandages wrapped around its face. On this unknown being's other side, there was a small goblin like creature in a dirty brown hooligan's hat, vest and pants. Their attentions were focused purely on the well to do ghoul pacing in front of them. "I suppose you are all wondering why I called you here…" He said, in a somewhat quiet voice.

"I cannot speak for the others, but I strongly suspect that you have a job for us." The being in the trenchcoat and hat said in a sort of wispy voice. "After all, that is the only time you call on me."

"Quite right. I do indeed have a job for you." He explained, stopping in front of them. "As you know, I am in charge of the Monster Marathon. My cousin, Zeral, is running in this race. Naturally, anyone who bets on my cousin to win this race is sure to come out on top."

"I like the sound of that...but you surely didn't call in the Leatherwing Clan to get us to bet on Fleetfoot." The punk bat pointed out.

"There is also this little upstart named Lynn Loud. Has a...certain amount of skill...enough to be dangerous to my...financial prospects."

"So, you wish us to deal with this upstart, ja?" The goblin inquired with a big grin.

"Exactly." Cerano replied with a smirk.

"Easy enough...we can ensure she's never seen or-"

"No." The ghoul interrupted the bat creature. "I don't want her to disappear...I simply wish for her to be unable to race. Coerce her. Break a leg. Bribe her. Do what you need to short of murder. Just make absolutely sure that no part of this can be traced back to me…" The three looked at one another, then at Cerano, nodding in unison. "Very good. In addition, the one who performs this task properly will get a bonus." The Leatherwing Clan member and the goblinoid both grinned excitedly, while the concealed being simply stared straight ahead. "I see you approve. Now, off you go. And remember, if you get caught, this conversation never happened and you DON'T get paid." The three of them nodded again, rising from their seats and departing from his study. The wight grinned as he returned to his desk to go over the books, needing to factor the latest influx of ticket purchases.


	7. Chapter 7

Meeting of the (half) minds

The next day, it was business as usual for Lynn Loud Jr. Get up. Eat a lot of breakfast. Got out for her morning jog. It was starting to become a habit for her. However, today, she decided to mix things up a little. She figured she would stop at the nearest public pool (grateful for the fact that she wasn't banned from this one) and go for a swim, get cleaned up and then have some lunch in town. So with her jog finished, she made her way to the locker room to change into her one piece swimming suit, then headed out to the pool. When she got there, she found she wasn't the only one from the marathon there. Among the citizens of Transylvania, there was also Talking Tina sitting poolside, in an old fashioned pink one piece with the little skirt attached, Bolten Jr in lightning bolt print swim trunks, swimming stiffly through the water, a goblin-ish boy with orange skin, a tuft of red hair on his head, and an angry face on the back of his head and torn, brown shorts, and Kaspa, who was standing on the diving board, wearing a simple black top and swimming skirt. She was about to dive when she saw the werewolf girl approaching. "Hey Lynn!" She called out, waving. This got the attention of the other race participants, who looked toward her.

"Hey Kaspa. Hey everyone." The confident athlete greeted them with a smile.

"Hello Lynn. My name is Talking Tina." The living doll said in her voice box tone that Lynn found super creepy.

"Hey…" Bolten Jr responded, looking kinda irate that she was interrupting his exercise.

"Nice to meet you, Lynn." The goblin said in a squeaky voice, before turning his head to the angrier head. "Shove off!" He snapped, sounding like an angry chipmunk. Lynn just raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and looked up at the gorgon as she dove off the platform and into the water. She glided through the water like a torpedo before emerging with a splash, getting Lynn in the splash.

"Hahaha hey!" Lynn laughed softly as she shook to get the water out of her fur.

"Tee hee. Sorry, Lynn." The serpentine gal said, resting her arms on the side of the pool and winking at her.

"Ah, it's ok. My sisters tend to splash a lot more...always aimed at one another."

"You have sisters other than Luna?"

"Yeah. Nine of them, plus a brother." She explained. Kaspa just looked at her like she had grown a second head, Tina's jaw nearly fell out of it's socket, both faces of the goblin had a look of shock on them and...Bolten Jr was focused on his swimming and not paying her any attention.

"Holy spit! Your parents didn't know when to say when!" The ruder half of the goblin exclaimed.

"No fooling? Are they all as cute as you?" The gorgon girl asked with a grin.

"Well, Lily is positively adorable, and Leni can be too." Lynn said with a light chuckle, not quite catching that she was called cute. "And a lot of girls think Lincoln is cute." Kaspa just giggled softly as she lifted herself from the water and sat down on the pool's edge. The sporty werewolf took a few steps back from the pool, stretched a bit, then got a running start before diving into the water. She then proceeded to swim laps in the pool, while Kaspa watched her with a smile. With all the extra fur she now had getting wet, she was weighted down more and it took more effort for her to swim. However, she liked the challenge and soldiered through it.

"My. It's rather impressive she can move so fast with all that wet fur." Tina commented, spectating as Lynn went from one end of the pool to the other.

"Yes...very impressive." Kaspa said, grinning a bit.

"Kaspa? Earth to Kaspa?" The living doll said, walking over and waving her hand in front of the gorgon's face. Her eyes don't leave the werewolf in the pool. "Oh….I get it. You have your eyes on the little werewolf." She said with a grin.

"Well, duh." The serpen-teen replied with a snicker.

"I didn't think you swung that way."

"I don't." Kaspa replied. "I swing every way. And right now, I'd like to swing her way." Tina giggled a little, smirking at her.

"Have you told her that much?"

"No. I have dropped a few hints, but…"

"Not getting it, huh?"

"She seems a pretty thick!" The rude goblin face snapped.

"A little, but I find that kinda adorable about her. Almost like naivety." Kaspa said with a bit of a sigh.

"I suggest you be more direct with her." Tina said in a matter of fact voice. "After all, you don't know if someone else is after her heart. You may lose her before you even had her."

"...perhaps you're right…" Kaspa mused, looking down at her tail. Then a light bulb seemed to light up in her head. "I know. I'll invite her to lunch after this, and talk it over with her as the restaurant."

"A fine idea." The polite goblin side said.

"I agree." Talking Tina said with a nod.

"Whew...what a workout…" Bolten Jr said as he finally pulled himself from the water. "...is she still going at it?"

"Yep. And not showing any signs of slowing down." Kaspa spoke up. "I think she's up to six laps."

"Six!? But...I had only done eight myself…" The reanimated young man seemed astonished and disappointed to hear that.

"Yes, but your style is different to hers." The polite goblin side pointed out. "You maximized your movements to get the most out of it. She just goes." The four of them watched as the WereLynn continued to speed through the water: Ten laps. Twelve laps. Fifteen Laps. She eventually came to a stop after nineteen laps, pulling herself out of the water. Seeing the dripping wet lycan, Tina quickly took cover behind the Frankenstein-like boy right when Lynn started to shake. Water went everywhere, Kaspa laughing lightly as she covered her face with her arms. The goblin boy and Bolten Jr were less amused as they were soaked.

"Oops...sorry about that." Lynn said, chuckling in an embarrassed manner.

"Don't worry about it, Lynn. I don't mind getting wet. The water is good for my scales." The gorgon girl told her.

"I do." Tina said from behind Bolten Jr. "I can't get wet."

"Then what're ya doing at the pool, ya moron!?" The rude goblin head piped up. The living doll simply huffed and looked away from the two faced creature.

"So...Lynn, do you have any plans after the pool?" The hopeful gorgon inquired, mentally crossing her fingers.

"Just to get a big lunch." The WereLynn responded once she wrung out her ponytail.

"Oh? Mind a little company?"

"I'd love some company. I don't like eating alone." Kaspa smiled brightly, feeling pretty giddy about this turn of events. After the intense workout she just went through, Lynn moved to one of the many lounge chairs on the side to rest her muscles a little. The serpentine teen grinned and decided it was an opportune time to try and get her attention a little. She leaned back, letting the sun shine off her scales and showing off her figure a little. Her plan did kinda work; Lynn was looking at her, but she wasn't really paying her a lot of attention. However, it does mean she wasn't watching as a trio of bat/human hybrids entering the pool area and trying to casually make their way over to where Lynn was sitting. Most people either ignored them, or looked away in fear (as they knew who they were). Tina, however, did spot them and nudged Kaspa, gesturing with her head to indicate she should look. When she did, she saw the three bat men standing directly behind Lynn, malice in their eyes. She glared at them and rose from her seated position. However, before she could make a move, a flower pot fell from the heavens and clocked the one on the right on the head. The other two blinked and looked at their downed associate, along with Lynn. Everyone else just looked confused, even more so when a second flower pot was smashed on the head of the bat to the left. The last bat punk saw the writing on the wall and decided it was time to go, but before he could get anywhere, a iron cauldron fell on his head. He staggered around for a few seconds before he joined his friends in a heap.

"Whoa...weather never said anything about raining flower pots…" Lynn commented, looking up at the clear sky. "Talk about rotten luck." She looked down at the bat men. "You guys ok?"

"Nebber bletter…" Came the slurred response from the bat with the iron pot on his head.

"if you say so." She said with a shrug before hopping off the chair to go get a shower. Meanwhile, behind the wall that surrounded the pool, the Boo Brothers were fading into view, covering their snickering mouths with their hands.

"Looks like those guys went to pot. Nyuk nyuk nyuk" Shreiko whispered.

"Good work, brothers." Freako told them quietly. "But why the cauldron, Shreiko?"

"I couldn't find a flower pot…"

"Where'd you even get it anyway?" Meeko asked his goofy brother. He got a shrug in response, but then they heard a soft tapping behind them. They slowly looked around to see a pair of green skinned witches standing there: arms crossed and tapping their feet a bit. One was tall with a long beak of a nose, the other short with a plump, round nose. "Uh oh…."

"So, you're the ghostly whipper snappers who took our cauldron…" The taller of the witches said, glaring at them.

"Scatter, brothers!" The leader of the trio declared before all three of them disappeared.

* * *

After Lynn got herself cleaned up and changed, she waited outside the pool area for Kaspa to get changed. She emerged a few minutes later, smiling the werewolf girl before they moved along the streets of the Transylvanian village. "Sooo..where are we going?" The Loud werewolf asked.

"I know of a nice little sandwich shop downtown. They have marvelous turkey clubs, and incredible lemonade." Kaspa replied. "I stop by there every time my family and I visit."

"They have meatballs? I love meatball subs."

"Hehe. They're not great, but they do have them." Lynn seemed even more eager to go now, so they sped up their walk over to the sandwich shop. After ordering their food, they moved over to the closest table (Kaspa couldn't sit in a booth), sipping on their lemonades while they waited.

"Mmmmm. This is good." Lynn said, licking her lips. "What do they used to sweeten it? It doesn't taste like sugar."

"A special kinda syrup. It's the owner's secret recipe, so I don't know what's really in it." The gorgon replied. "But enough of lemonade secrets...tell me about yourself, Lynn."

"Well, I'm really big into sports, as you could probably tell." The werewolf girl said, a proud smile on her face. "All kinds of sports; from lacrosse to football. You name it, I probably played it."

"No big shock you're here then, ready to run in the marathon."

"You better believe it." The girls were so engaged in their conversation, they didn't notice as an invisible man (his face and hands all wrapped up) joining the sandwich makers on the line and taking over making Lynn's sandwich. He glanced up at the two teens before pulling out a small bottle from his apron and adding a few drops to her meatball sub before hiding the bottle and pouring on the siracha. "So, what about you, Kaspa? What makes you tick?"

"Well, I'm not as much an athlete as you, outside of running." She admitted. "I jog and run for fun mostly, but I've been in a few competitions. Won a few too. Not bad for a gal without legs, eh?" She inquired with a giggle. "Anyway, my passion is more aligned with traveling and exploring. Seeing new places, climbing tall mountains, sailing across the seas…"

"Sounds awesome. Like a travel log show or something?"

"No, but that's not a bad idea." She said, considering the idea with interest. Then she felt a sharp pain in her tail. "OUCH!" She pulled her damaged tail and stroked it, looking up to see an angry troll woman stomping through.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, moss face!" Lynn shouted, shaking her fist at the rude monster. She was ignored as the troll slammed her fist on the counter.

"Meat sandwich! Now!" She bellowed.

"Certainly, ma'am. Once we are finished with the current order, we will make your-" The invisible man started to say in his best customer service tone, still holding Lynn's sandwich. The troll glared at him and snatched the sub from his hand. "Whoa! Ma'am..that's not your sandwich…"

"Mine now." She stated.

"You don't understand. That sandwich has already been paid for, by Miss Lynn Loud…"

"What!?" Lynn growled, rising from her chair.

"Mine now." She repeated flatly.

"Are you deaf as well as ugly!?" She shouted, stepped out from the table, her teeth bared.

"Lynn, calm down…"

"I will not! She stepped on your tail, and now she's swiping my lunch!"

"MY LUNCH!" The troll woman screeched.

"Ma'am, that is not your-" The invisible man frantically tried to say, but the troll took a huge bite of the sub, sloppily chewing it up with her mouth open. The WereLoud extended her claws, nearly frothing mad. There were three things you never messed with around Lynn: her family, her win, and her lunch.

"MY LUN-" The troll went to shout, but then her face turned bright red. Her bulbous yellow eyes started to water, steam billowing from her ears. "AGH! IT BURNS!" Lynn went from wrathful to mirthful in about a second.

"Hahahaha! What's the matter?" She taunted. "Can't handle a little spice?"

"YOU LITTLE PEST! YOU SHOULD TELL WHEN...When…." Her face went from bright red to more green than usual. "...Don't feel so good…" She threw her large hand over her mouth, dropped the bitten hoagie, and made a mad dash for the rest room. In the isolated chaos, the invisible man had taken the chance to slip away.

"Hmph. Some people can't handle a little heat." The sporty werewolf huffed.

"My apologies, Miss...we will remake your sandwich right away." The golem behind the counter told her, looking very sorry.

"Thanks." She replied before she sat back down. "Sorry I got so heated there, Kas."

"It's ok, Lynn. I was about one step away from giving her my entrancing gaze." The gorgon girl responded before smiling sweetly at her. "Besides, it was rather flattering how you stood up for me."

"What are friends for, Kas?" She said. From across the restaurant, a small goblin was watching the two of them from behind a newspaper. He chuckled a bit before hiding behind his afternoon paper.

"Speaking of...are you seeing someone?" The serpent gal asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

"...not really." Lynn answered with a bit of a blush.

"Would you be opening to dating?" She asked cautiously, just in case her crush just wasn't interested in dating.

"Of course I'd be open to dating." The WereLynn answered with a confident smile.

"...even someone not your species?" She asked, starting to lose her nerve.

"...never really thought about it." Lynn admitted, considering the matter. "...I suppose I would...if I liked them enough." Kaspa opened her mouth to say something else, but at that point, her sandwich and Lynn's new sub was ready. Cursing the timing, as well her own beating around the bush, she still thanked the sandwich artist for their food. The moment she was given her meatball sub, Lynn immediately tore into it.

"Mmmmmm. Very good." She said, her muzzle covered in sauce. "Not like Dad's, but still good."

"Glad to hear you like it." The scaled teen said, Lynn's voracious eating not disturbing her in the least. Being rather hungry herself, she started to eat her own sandwich. It takes them only a few minutes to finish their lunch, but they hung around to drink their lemonades too.

"This place is pretty good. I'll have to bring the others here sometime." The athletic Loud commented with a smile. Kaspa simply smiled in return, trying to spur herself to just outright ask her. However, actually being with her crush...wanting to confess to her...it was more difficult than one would assume. Still, it was encouraging that Lynn felt friendly enough with her to eat with her and talking pretty freely with her. It was a start and one she would take. Once their drinks were finished, they bid good day to the living statue behind the counter and departed from the restaurant. As they were both headed the same way for most of the trip, they decided they would walk home together too (much to Kaspa's delight).

* * *

Not far away, a small group of the Leatherwing Clan had holed themselves up in an alley a couple blocks down. They had seen Lynn leaving the shop and, knowing she would have to pass that area to get back to Castle Dracula, set themselves up to ambush her. "Alright, everyone...when the kid passes by, we'll all jump her at one. A couple of us will grab her arms and start beating on her, while you two break her legs." The leather clad leader of the gang said, gesturing toward two of his clan who were carrying clubs. They nodded in unison as he crept closer to the way out to the street, listening carefully. He smirked as he heard Lynn and Kaspa coming closer, judging by their voices...but then their voices got quieter. And quieter. The bat punk blinked, the whole of the gang looking confused. Shouldn't their target be here already? The leader of the pack slowly peeked out from the alleyway, only to find no sign of the two.

"Looking for someone, old bean?" A polite voice from behind caused the bat man to jump and turn around in shock. There, he saw Brunch and Crunch smirking at the mohawked goon. The Hunch Bunch had overheard the gang and enacted a plan of their own to get Lynn to alter her course. How? Simply by standing in the path she planned to take. She didn't want anything to do with them (other than giving them a lifetime worth of lumps), so she naturally took another route with Kaspa.

"What do you want, Humpty Dumpty?"

"Cute...I simply wished to pass a message. If you know what's good for you, you will leave Lynn Loud alone." Brunch told them, his smirk turning into a scowl.

"...are you threatening us?" The punk leader seemed to be positively dumbfounded by this idea. "You dare threaten Zervan and the Leatherwing Gang!?"

"Threat. Promise. Call it what you like." Brunch replied with a shrug. "It's all the same to us." Zervan sneered at them, pulling a switchblade from his jacket. "Now now. Let's not do anything foolish, my friend. Crunch here has been taking mace classes."

"Heh. Thanks for the warning." The gang leader said with a sinister grin, pulling his sunglasses down. He took one step toward them, then froze as the big tongued hunchback pulled a flail with a spiked ball from behind his back, a big grin on his face.

"Blo ahead. Blake bly day." Crunch sputtered, holding the flail with both hands. Zervan hastily retreated until his back hit the wall. The rest of the gang looked even more confused until the weapon wielding hunchback stepped into view. Given what they were armed with versus what he had, they were equally terrified.

"I believe our point has been made, yes?" The sophisticated monster man inquired, adjusting his monocle. "You leave Miss Loud be, or else we'll have to hunt you down and make an example of you...and just so we're clear...this conversation never happened, correct." The bats all fearfully nodded in agreement. "Smashing. I thought we could come to a reasonable agreement. Very well then. Ta ta for now." Brunch motioned his cohort that it was time to go. The two hunchbacks departed from the area, causing the Leatherwing Clan to breathe sighs of relief...until Crunch leaped back into view, grinning like a maniac, still carrying the spiked ball and chain. The bat punks all screamed and scrambled to get away from him. Brunch snickered at his friend, shaking his head. "Crunch, you are incorrigible…"

* * *

"Thanks for directing me to this alternate way." Lynn said as she and Kaspa continued on their way. "Those Hunch Bunch jerks make my blood boil…"

"What'd they do to you?" The gorgon asked with a tilted head.

"They turned me into a werewolf…"

"...say what?"

"I used to be human, but because Mr Rotters needed a werewolf, he had those goons bring me here and had me injected with werewolf blood…" Kaspa gasped in horror. While she didn't know the full extent of the danger of that stunt, she did understand it was a terrible thing to do.

"I'm sorry to hear that...but if it's any consolation...you're a really cute werewolf." She told her, playing with her ponytail a little. She blushed a little and chuckled.

"Thanks Kaspa. You know, it's really lucky that I met you on my first jog in Transylvania." She said, smiling at the serpentine girl. Now it was her turn to blush. Just then, Lynn stopped, noticing a coin on the ground. "Hey. A quarter." She said with a grin, picking it up. "This is really turning into my lucky day."

"Hmmm. I always pegged you as the kind of girl who made her own luck." Kaspa said with a slight teasing tone to it.

"Hehehe...well, truth be told...I've been trying to give up that way of thinking…" The werewolf Loud said, rubbing her arm a bit. "It caused a whole heap of trouble in the past. Lincoln's told me I've gotten better...but sometimes…"

"It's ok, Lynn. I getcha. Old habits die hard. I understand." She said, patting her on the shoulder. "I mean, I nibble on the tip of my tail when I get nervous."

"Your tail?"

"I don't have fingernails." She held out her hands to her. Like she said, there were no nails on the ends of either set of fingers. "I know I shouldn't, but I can't help it. Point is, we all have our bad habits."

"Heh. Yeah." Lynn felt a little bit better. "Buuut...can we not mention this to Luna or Pop Pop?"

"My lips are sealed." Kaspa replied, miming a zip of the lips.

"You're the best, Kas." Lynn told her with a big smile, patting her on the back, which made the gorgon's cheeks go even more scarlet. The two continued to walk down the sidewalk when she felt something smack her shoulder. She blinked and looked around, but saw nothing. She then looked to to her new monster friend and grinned. "Oh, that's how you want to play, huh?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Kaspa asked, having no idea what she was talking about.

"Well, challenge accepted." Lynn said, in full competitive mode. "Race you to...where ever we have to part ways." The monster girl was still lost, but shrugged. A race sounded fun to her.

"Alright. You're on."

Meanwhile, far up ahead, the invisible man from before was getting himself set up in an alley. He was responsible for instigating Lynn to want to race. It was all part of his plan. He picked up a baseball bat and knelt down to the ground, holding the bat at the ready. The unseen being was prepared to break her legs to get her out of the marathon for Mr Rotters. Lynn and Kaspa started running down the walk. Lynn wasn't really going all out, but she was still getting slightly ahead of her serpentine admirer. Not that Kaspa was complaining, mind. The WereLoud was about a block away from the ambush when a blur purple, black and gray zipped past her and something forcefully pushed her to the cement. "Hey!" She shouted as she looked back up, thankfully not hurt by the fall.

"Ha! Eat my dust, fuzzy wuzzy!" Zeral shouted back at her as he sped ahead. He didn't get too much further as he felt solid wood strike one of his four legs. The ghoul let out a blood curdling scream, which covered the distinct crack of a bone breaking. He fell to the ground, holding his now broken leg. If the invisible man could be seen, he would have had a look of 'oh spit…' on his face. He hastily ditched the bat and made himself more scarce.

"Karma's a witch, isn't it?" Lynn muttered as she got up, running over to join the crowd Zeral was gathering with his wailing and tears with Kaspa.

"YOU! YOU DID THIS TO ME!" The ghoul shrieked, pointing at her.

"What? I wasn't anywhere near you, you dufus!" Lynn snapped. As much as she would have loved to just leave him there and let him and the crowd figure things out, but her spirit of fair play got the better of her. "Alright, you lookie loos! If you aren't going to be useful, back it up!" She instructed, getting the citizens to back up from Zeral. "Good. Now someone call an ambulance!"

"I'm on it." Kaspa said, pulling her own phone from her skirt pocket and calling the nearest hospital.

"Ok. Ok. Now, does anyone have ANY first aid experience? Anyone?" She asked the crowd, only to be met with silence. "No one? Really…? Sigh...Ok...just keep real still, Zeral, or you'll make things worse." She tried to explain to him over his screeching and screaming. The ambulance arrived a few minutes later, along with a police car. Naturally, the injured wight started pointing the finger of blame for his shattered bone at Lynn. However, as all the witnesses could attest to her being nowhere near him and nobody seeing what actually happened, there wasn't much the officers could do. They simply loaded the wailing ghoul onto the ambulance and got to work getting the bystanders to move along. "Geez...try and do the decent thing…." Lynn grumbled as she and Kaspa were shooed away.

"Don't worry about it, Lynn. Everyone else knows you did good." The snake like teen told her, gently scratching her behind the ears. The WereLynn trembled for a second, but then a very goofy, contented expression crossed her face. The gorgon gal was surprised by this reaction: surprised, but delighted. "Oh, you like that, huh~?" She cooed, keeping up the gentle scritching on her head. Her tail started to wag a little, the athletic sister almost getting completely lost in the sensation, a very deep blush on her face. She did, however, remember she was out in public and snapped out of it.

"Kaspa…don't do that…" Lynn kinda whined after ducking out from under her hand.

"Awww. Why not?"

"...cause then everyone is gonna wanna do it…" She muttered, her face still very red.

"Hmmmm...good point. I don't mind sharing usually, but in your case, I'll make an exception." Kaspa said with a giggle, getting a small laugh out of Lynn. "...but that is so adorable, I just can't help myself…"

"You better learn to…"

"Uh oh...I think my hand has a mind of its ooooown~" She teased, reaching for Lynn's head.

"Don't you dare…" Lynn warned her while giggling some herself, backing away.

"Resistance is futile, Lynn. You will submit to the scritches."

"Not if you can't catch me!" She said before she bolted down the sidewalk. Kaspa just smirked and slithered after her. She had a feeling she wouldn't be able to catch up with Lynn if she really wanted to get away, but she thought she would just enjoy the game while it lasts.

* * *

Back in Cerano's summer home (specifically his study), the well to do ghoul was pleased with the numbers he just crunched. According to his ledgers, in ticket and merchandise sales, he made more than enough to pay back the bank with interest, and there were still a few days left until the race. "This is going even better than I thought." He said to himself. "And if all goes well with the pay per view, along with my little wager, I'll be set for afterlife." He sighed happily, leaning back in his chair. It was at this point his antique telephone on his desk rang. "Cerano Rotters." He answered after he answered it, in good spirits. These good spirits quickly soured when he received a reply. "Transylvania General? Why are you calling me?" He inquired. "...WHAT!? Someone broke my cousin's leg!?" He roared into the mouthpiece. "WHO WAS IT!? WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!?...DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!...WHAT BLOOD PRESSURE!? I'M ALREADY F'ING DEAD!" He was breathing heavily after that short tirade, steam gushing from his nose as the one on the other side of the phone took the chance to explain what happened. "...No one saw anything? No one was near him when he was injured? Suspect it was a trip?" Cerano growled as he rubbed his forehead with one hand. "...how long would it take for him to recover?...TWO WEEKS!? That's too long! The race is in five days! Can't you just remove that leg and put a new one in its place?...I don't give a fig how expensive it will be! Money is no object! Just get Zeral back on his feet, pronto!...yes, I'll have the check over there ASAP...now, how much would it…..That much!?" His hand froze mid way to his pen after he heard the price. "...no, no...go through with the operation...I will pay….thank you. Good day…" He hung up the phone, and pulled it off the hook again, furiously dialing another number. "Zervan...gather your fellow associates...we need to talk...NOW!"

Thirty minutes later, Zervan, the invisible man (back in his trenchcoat and wrappings) and the goblin were seated in Cerano's study, with the ghoul in question pacing back and forth in front of them. He was fuming with rage, which made the invisible man nervous and Zervan uneasy. The goblin, however, was simply sitting there, cool as you please. "So….who wants to explain to me why ZERAL is in the hospital...instead of LYNN LOUD, hmm?" He inquired in a voice of forced calm.

"Zeral is in the hospital?" The Leatherwing leader asked in shock.

"Yes...my cousin...in the hospital….WITH A BROKEN LEG!" He bellowed in their direction.

"It...it was simply a tragic error…" The invisible man stammered.

"A tragic error that cost me TENS of THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS!" He yelled, getting right in the invisible fiend's face.

"I promise you, sir...I shalt fail again…"

"No...you won't...because YOU'RE FIRED!" He screamed so loud, the see through man fell back in his seat. "Now get out of my house!" The trenchcoated being scrambled across the floor, to his feet, then out the door. "As for you two, I don't hear either of you being any use!"

"It wasn't my fault…" Zervan tried to say.

"I don't want to hear it!" He then glared at the goblin. "And what about you!?"

"Mein friend, while I have not made an active move against Miss Loud, it does not mean I have not been busy. I have been watching her. Watching and listening. And I think I've found ze flaw of my associates' attemots." The goblin replied calmly.

"I'm listening…"

"Zey were trying to take her down on a physical level. Not a bad idea, but...a little limiting, ja? No. What we need is to strike on a mental level, and I know just how to do that. Interested?" He grinned as he saw Cerano and Zervan were giving him their undivided attention. "Wunderbar. Now, while I was following her, I heard her make a few references to luck. By itself, not much, I admit...but it sounds like she really believes in it. With zat bit of information, I did a quick search on social media...and did I hit ze motherlode of information on our little werewolf on HeadSpace. Short version: Miss Loud is superstitious." Now Cerano was starting to grin. "I see you see where I am going with this."

"Now this is the kind of skullduggery I expected when I hired you." The ghoul said, sounding pleased. "But can you pull it off?"

"But of course. I will need a few resources, but I promise you...by the fall of the sun tomorrow, Lynn Loud will be so shaken, she will begging to go home."

* * *

It was mid afternoon when Lynn had finally returned to Castle Dracula, in really high spirits. She had a really good work out, had a fun afternoon with Kaspa, and found a place to get a good meatball sub in Transylvania, and she was ready to tell her family and Francisco all about it. At the same time, the Boo Brothers had landed on top of the castle, looking kinda tired. "Whew...though we'd never lose those witches…" Meeko commented, wiping the sweat from his face.

"Yeah, well, at least the kid was safe the whole afternoon. I call that a win." Freako said, resting his back against a nonliving gargoyle.

"Am I ever beat." Shrieko said as he slumped over the edge of the gutter.

"You shouldn't have taken the nice old battle-I mean, lady's cauldron, stupid."

"I had to think on my feet. It was that, or let the bat boy be the one that got away."

"Instead, we ended up abandoning our post to avoid getting mercilessly pummeled by those hags. You're darn lucky that nothing happened to the kid in that time." Freako scolded him.

"Brothers, let's not fight…" Meeko interjected, trying to put an end to the squabbling. "Lynn is safe. That's the important thing."

"Yeah...yer right, Meeko. But we still gotta be more careful. We can't be caught with our guard down again." Unbeknownst to the ghostly trio (no, not that one), Brunch and Crunch were scaling up the back of the castle, headed for the roof.

"Are you sure you saw them up here?" Brunch inquired quietly.

"Bleah. Blall three of blem." Crunch replied in a hushed voice.

"Right then. Let us hurry before they get away, or worse, make their move…" The two hunchbacks double timed it up the wall. When they eventually get to the roof, they took cover behind a chimney as they observed the ghosts. At that moment, Shrieko was leaning over the side to check on Lynn's room.

"See anything, Shrieko?" The fat, bald ghost questioned his taller brother.

"Yeah. I see the girl in her room talking to her sister."

"Good. Good." Freako said, still lounging on the statue. "We'll keep an eye on her for a little while longer; see if she plans to go anywhere else."

"You hear that, Crunch...seems clear they're up to something…" The well spoken monster man said quietly.

"Bleah. Blet's get em.."

"Now hold on a second, Crunch. We need to take a moment to-"

"Blarge!" Crunch yelled as he ran right toward Shrieko.

"Wait!...sigh…." Brunch shook his head as the Boo Brothers turned to look at the charging, screaming hunchback.

* * *

Moment earlier, inside Lynn and Luna's room…

"...and after that, we pretty much raced until we had to part ways." The WereLynn said, concluding her retelling of the events of the afternoon to Luna.

"Heh. Sounds like you had fun." The rock and roll Loud said with a smile, chilling out on her bed.

"Yeah. Kaspa's really cool. Though she was asking a few funny questions. Seemed really interested in whether or not I planned on dating in the near future."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Like if I was seeing anyone, or if I would date someone other than my own species." Lynn answered, shrugging a bit. "A little odd, but she probably had a friend looking for a date." Luna frowned lightly as she heard that, looking up at the ceiling.

'Hmmm. Curious about her interest in dating...and then there was how she was looking at her at the party and after they first met...the blushing...' She thought to herself. 'I dunno. It doesn't sound like she's asking for someone else. It sounds like…she was asking for herself.' Luna blinked as she came to that conclusion. '...How did I not see that before?...that's just adorable.' The third oldest sister grinned a bit, then looked over to her fur bearing sister, who was giving her a funny look.

"What's with you?"

"Oh. Nothing." Luna replied. 'Should I tell her? I mean, it may be better for her to find out for herself...but Lynn was never really one to pick up hints that well. Would telling her affect her friendship with her though?' Before she could really give the issue any more thought, the sounds of footsteps could be heard above them.

"Huh? What's that?" Lynn asked, gazing upward.

"I dunno. Monster squirrels?" The older sister suggested with a shrug. That theory was was thrown out the window they heard a pair of voices screaming just outside. The Loud sisters (as well as Albert and Francisco next door) ran to the window to see what was going on. They could see a tall thin ghost flailing around in the sky, with a hunchback clinging to him as the two fought. The Loud sisters just watched with mouths agape until the two of them ended up soaring right at them.

"Hit the deck!" The sporty werewolf yelled, both she and Luna diving for the ground as Crunch and Shrieko crashed through the window. The two start wrestling around on the ground, with Freako and Meeko going through the ceiling to try and help their brother.

"What the bloody 'eck!?" Luna asked in shock. At that moment, Brunch had just climbed down and jumped through the broken window.

"Oh bother…" He groaned, face palming at the scene before him.

"You!?" Lynn snarled, springing to her feet, fangs and claws bared.

"What're you doing here!?" Luna demanded to know.

"I could ask them the same thing, Miss Loud." Brunch replied calmly, pointing toward the ghosts fighting his friend. "Crunch and I caught them following Lynn around last few days, as well as spying on her on the roof just now."

"Wait...following me?" The WereLynn asked, confused, but then snapped back into anger. "Why should I believe you!?"

"...It kinda makes sense, sis...they were at the party, they somehow were there when you met the Hex Girls, and now here they are again…" Luna said with a frown. She didn't necessarily believe him, but she had to admit the circumstances were suspicious.

"Luna! You're not seriously believing the guys who flipping turned me into a werewolf, are you!?" The ponytailed and very angry teen snapped before she jumped into the fray, right onto Crunch's back. During the struggle, Meeko ended up getting thrown to the side, landing right on Lynn's bed. While he was dazed, Luna walked over and glared down at him.

"Alright, bloke. Start talking. Why are you lot following my sister?"

"Whoa! Whoa! Wait, Miss Luna! We don't mean any harm! Your brother sent us!" The chubby ghost said hastily and fearfully.

"...what was his name?"

"His name? His name...I know it began with an L…." Meeko mumbled, struggling to remember, which didn't help his credibility. Her frown becoming more pronounce, Luna reached down to grab the overweight specter. "Wait! Lincoln! His name was Lincoln!"

"...and how do you know him?"

"S...Shaggy introduced us! And Lincoln asked us to watch Lynn after she was turned!" The third eldest Loud blinked. He knew Shaggy as well?

"Hold on...you know Shaggy as well?" Brunch inquired, his attention on the dumpy spirit. Before a response could be given, the door suddenly burst open and in ran Albert, Francisco and Dracula. The moment they entered, all activity in the room stopped: Crunch was standing on one foot, Shrieko's neck in one hand, his other hand trying to shake WereLynn, and Freako about to smash the hunchback with a chair.

"What's going on in here!?" Albert asked, glaring at the ghosts and monster men invading Luna and Lynn's space.

"Calm down, sir. I believe what we have here is a serious case of misunderstanding." Brunch said in an attempt to defuse the situation. "If everyone will simply unhand one another, I believe we can get to the bottom of this."

"Give me one good reason we should listen to you!?" Lynn snarled.

"Miss Loud, I vill vouch for them." Dracula said in a calm, but angry tone. Lynn blinked and looked back at the vampire lord with surprise. "Here him out. That is all I ask." The little werewolf looked between Brunch and Dracula, growled angrily, but climbed off of Crunch and moved to the nearest chair. Said hunchback released Shrieko, who joined Meeko and Freako over on Lynn's bed. "Go ahead, Brunch."

"Thank you, Count. Now then, here is my understanding of the situation we find ourselves in. You three…" He pointed at the Boo Brothers. "...were sent here, by Miss Loud's brother, in order to protect her in the days following up to the Monster Marathon."

"Right in one. Lincoln was worried for his sister, especially after that Mr Rotters creep turned her into a werewolf." Freako piped up.

"And those two had a hand in it!" Lynn shouted, pointing at the Hunch Bunch.

"Ahem...yes, that is true, Miss Loud. However, as much as I know it is probably little to no consolation, it was not a task we enjoyed doing."

"Blot at all." Crunch added.

"And why should we believe that?" Albert asked, his arms crossed.

"I suppose you don't have much cause to trust us...after that. But we assure you that we have been doing what we can to protect her as well."

"Oh ho. That's rich. You two have been stalking the kid since we got here." Shrieko interjected.

"Blo blere you!" Crunch accused.

"Well...we can't argue with that." Meeko commented with a shrug.

"Wait a second...you guys saw us?" A surprised Freako inquired.

"Crunch saw you lurking about on Mr Rotter's roof the day of the party for the runners of the race." Brunch explained. "And from there, I suppose we both assumed the other intended ill toward Miss Loud."

"How do we know that you still don't plan to hurt Lynn for that Rotters jerk!?" Lynn's crush snapped.

"Because they aren't vorking for Mr Rotters." The vampire father interjected calmly. "They are vorking for me."

"Huh!?" The Loud sisters, their Grandfather, and Francisco all looked confused at Dracula's statement.

"After Lincoln informed me of what had happened, I paid the Hunch Bunch a little visit." He started to explain, moving toward Lynn. "Vith a little...persuasion...I convinced them that ensuring the safety of Lynn vas in their best interests." He smiled lightly at her, before turning to the Hunchbacks. "As I must admit...they vere doing a fine job of it."

"Blank you, blaster." Crunch sputtered.

"Though I must say I am surprised Lincoln took matters into his own hands." The vampire lord said, looking toward the three goofy ghosts. "Especially vithout him and Sibella telling me."

"That's our bro for you." Lynn said with a slight smirk. "When it comes to his family, he goes above and beyond."

"It was actually Shaggy who recommended us to the kid." Freako informed them.

"He asked us to 'ghost' Lynn before and during the race, just in case ol Hook Nose tries anything funny. Nyuk nyuk nyuk."

"And try something funny he did." Brunch spoke up. "It seems he had employed some...extra help of his own in order to deal with Miss Loud. The Leatherwing Clan."

"The who?" Luna asked.

"The LeatherVing Clan...one of the most disruptive gangs in the area…" Dracula said with a snarl. "Are you sure, Brunch?"

"Positive." The sophisticated monster man confirmed with a nod. "Crunch and I overheard those bat punks mentioning how they planned to break Lynn's legs. Thankfully, we were able to convince her to change course simply by standing in her path."

"Wait...that's why you were just lurking there?" Lynn inquired.

"Indeed. We suspected you wouldn't listen to us, so we had to use that mistrust to our advantage."

"...that's pretty clever."

"Bat punks? Hey. We dealt with a few of them at the pool." Freako piped up.

"You know...come to think of it...a few strange things have happened today besides…" The WereLoud commented as she remembered. "At the sandwich shop, a troll got sick from a sandwich meant to me, and Zeral got his leg broken after he ran past me after that…"

"Haha. Serves him right." Shrieko said with a laugh. He was the only one laughing. Everyone else looked positively alarmed.

"This is more serious than I thought." The Count said with the the biggest frown anyone had ever seen on him. "Miss Loud, I think, for your safety, it vould be best if you didn't leave the castle grounds until the day of the race."

"But how am I going to train for the race?" Lynn asked.

"The castle grounds are quite expansive. There should be plenty of room for you to run."

"What about when Kaspa wants to hang out with me, or if we want to go into town?"

"Miss Kaspa is more than velcome to spend time with you here if you are villing to vouch for her. As for your family and friend...I suggest they stay as vell." He could see that the werewolf girl looked really down about this. "I am sorry, Lynn, but it is for the best."

"Excuse me, Count." Meeko said, a little nervously. "What if we or the Hunch Bunch went with her whereever she went?"

"I'm afraid not." The vampire lord said firmly. "I am sure your hearts are in the right places, but here is vhere Miss Loud will be safest. It vill only be for a few more days." He tried to reassure her, though by the look on her face, it didn't help. "In the meantime, if you lot wish to help by patrolling the halls and grounds…" He directed his attention back to the three ghost brothers. "...that vould be most appreciated. The same goes with you, Brunch and Crunch." They all nodded in unison before Dracula bid them good day and left the room, a furious look on his face. With this new information, it seemed he had to pay Cerano a visit much sooner than he expected.

"Sorry about that, Lynn...but Dracula's right. Your safety comes first." Albert told her, patting her on the back.

"I know, Pop Pop, but I was really enjoying seeing the town…" Lynn complained, her head in her hands.

"Well, I suppose now would be a good time to introduce ourselves." Freako said, moving over to Albert and Luna. "I'm Freako, and these are my brothers, Shrieko and Meeko. We're the Boo Brothers, at your service." Albert, Luna and Francisco each shook their hands, introducing themselves to the ghosts as Lynn walked over to her bed, slumping down on top of it. 'What a way to end to an otherwise great day…' She thought to herself.


	8. Chapter 8

_AN: Sorry it took a while to get this chapter out. Had some writer's block in some parts, and kinda got distracted when I started playing Conan Exiles. But here it is now and hopefully you will all enjoy it. Before we get into the story, I want to answer a few questions from Lincoln Loud and the Ghoul School's comment section, as well as one or two from Lynn Loud and the (Not So) Reluctant Werewolf's and ask you all a question of my own._

 _Guest: Sure thing. When I start writing chapters to the more episodic Ghoul School stories, I'd be glad to include a flashback to Zanya's first days at Grimwood's._

 _lampe andrew1: Actually, I do have two other ideas currently in the works, but I'll get to that in a moment._

 _Ironchef13 and A Briz: Apologies, but I currently don't have any plans to do a Loud House/Thirteen Ghosts of Scooby Doo crossover. However, I wouldn't have a problem with giving Leni a more prominent role in one of my two new ideas in the works._

 _And that leads me to what I wish to ask you all. As I mentioned earlier, I have two ideas I'm kicking around and considering writing. Not sure if they count as crossover or not, but I digress. My first idea was heavily inspired by Conan Exiles; a world of warring barbarian tribes and larger kingdoms seeking to control said world. A wandering barbarian warrior whose weapons of choice are her axe, and her lute. Her faithful 'squire', always there to back her up and offer his insight on certain situations (and I put squire in quotes because I'm not really sure that's what they would be called for a barbarian, but that's pretty much his role). A mysterious third party manipulating events in the world to suit their needs. These would be the tales of Luna the Bard-barian (special credit to Puffin Forest on youtube for inspiring that). Mostly serious, with some funny moments sprinkled in for flavor. Probably gonna be M rated._

 _My second idea involves Lincoln, Clyde and some of his sisters (it would change from time to time) playing a game like Dungeons and Dragons. Lincoln would act as the narrator and DM, while Clyde and his sisters act out their characters in the adventures that Lincoln created. Travelling through a fantasy realm as they deal with monsters, evil masterminds, mind bending puzzles, betrayal, and the cursed roll of the dice. Some will rise to the occasion and become champions in the eyes of the people. Some will fall and (hopefully) be remembered for their couragous acts. The only way to find out which it will be is to pull up a stool and join the game. Most likely be rated T._

 _And now my question to you all: which would you rather see? I can't promise to do both, at least not at the moment, so let me know which story you would prefer and we'll see what happens. Well, that's enough out of me. On with the chapter!_

* * *

Lynn's Bad Day

Late into the night, at Cerano's summer home, the ghoul in question was pacing about in his garden of dead plants in the backyard, at wits end. Yes, he had a potential solution to the Lynn Loud problem, and since the news acknowledged a werewolf was SUPPOSED to be present, her backing out wouldn't cause him any problems. However, the botched job from earlier cost him a LOT of money. More than he could afford on his own, so he had to use the profits from ticket sales. This put him in a bad position. Now he more desperately needed his cousin to win, or Razortooth would rip him apart for being unable to pay him back. 'What more could go wrong?' He thought to himself, his hand on his forehead. His answer came with the flutter of bat wings overhead. He didn't even look at it, being so used to bats in the area, but it got his attention when it turned into Count Dracula. The vampire lord's eyes were filled with fury as he glared at him. "Vlad, this is not a good-" He was cut off when Dracula rushed over to him and grabbed him by the throat with one hand, lifting him off the ground. The hook nosed undead man's eyes widened in surprise, his hands grabbing Drac's wrist.

"Cerano...I should end you vhere you stand…" He said, in a voice of pure wrath and hate.

"Ack! Get...off….me…" Cerano choked, his legs kicking in air.

"Don't think I don't know vhat you have been up to, you foul excuse for a corpse…" Vlad growled, his grip on the race organizer's windpipe tightening. "Attempting to force Miss Loud out of the race...by having her assaulted…"

"You're...battier than...usual…" He managed to gasp out. "I've done -cough- no such thing." The vampire merely glared at him in disbelief. "...alright then...prove it." Dracula's arm trembled with fury, but he slowly let him down. Unfortunately, the ghoul was correct; he didn't have any proof that Cerano attempted to sabotage the teen. "That's -wheeze- what I thought…" The wight took a moment to regain his breath before standing tall and glaring back at Dracula. "...while I enjoy our nice little chats, VLAD...I am a very busy ghoul, so I must ask you to see yourself away...and warn you that if you ever trespass upon my property again, I won't hesitate to call the police on you."

"Very vell. Allow me to offer you a fair varning in return. If something else happens to Miss Loud, and I even SUSPECT you are in somevay connected...You….vill...burn." He threatened in a low voice before he turned into a bat a flew off again. Cerano watched as the bat flew off. He had to admit that he was pretty shaken by Drac's sudden aggression. However, he was confident his goblin associate would keep a low profile with what he had planned. There is no way Dracula would link him to whatever was going to happen.

* * *

About that time, the sneaky little creature had just breached the outer wall and slunk across the grass toward the castle. He had to be careful, as bats and the Boo Brothers were patrolling via the air. However, the conniving goblin was well versed in stealth, moving a pet carrier as large as he was across the grounds to some dead bushes inside the garden. Once the carrier was hidden, he waited for Shrieko to fly by before he slipped through the hole in the wall and returned with a large, full length mirror. He had to be careful with this, as he had very few places he could hide with it. Fortunately for him, he was able to hide the mirror inside some hedges. Next, he smuggled in what looked like a pesticide sprayer. During this run, he always got spotted by a colony of bats flapping overhead, but managed to stash it right by the front door. The rest of the evening went pretty much the same way, with the goblin sneaking in and out of the grounds, moving objects both small and large (by his standards) onto the grounds, managing to keep out of sight. It took several hours, but in his mind, it would be worth it.

* * *

The next morning, after Lynn's usual morning routine, she sent Kaspa a text giving a quick summary of her situation; telling her she was pretty much restricted to the castle grounds. She didn't go into too many details (just in case someone was possibly reading over the gorgon's shoulder), but her friend seemed to understand. She replied to Lynn that she would drop by after her own morning jog. That made the Loud lycan feel a little better as she went out for her morning jog. She stepped out onto the grounds, stretched her muscles, took a deep breath, and started coughing as she was sprayed with something. She wasn't sure what it was, but it stank. "Oops. My apologies, fraulein." Said a voice from the bushes. "Was trying to give ze bushes zeir breakfast."

"Ugh...well, watch your aim, buster…" Lynn growled. So much for feeling better. However, she felt she could work off her frustrations with her workout. She started to jog off, heading counter clockwise around the keep. The goblin smirked as he watched her jog away, keeping low since he could see Brunch and Freako up on the castle wall.

"Good Morning, Miss Loud." The hunchback called all to her from the wall. Lynn growled a bit in reply. Regardless of what the Count said, she was NOT about to trust the Hunch Bunch anytime soon.

"Morning Lynn." The wide hat wearing ghost greeted her.

"Morning Freako." She replied. The sophisticated monster man wasn't so upset about Lynn's lack of response to him. After all, he and Crunch were responsible for turning her into a werewolf. He suspected it would be a good long while before she would speak to them, much less trust them. All in due time he thought as he continued to walk around the perimeter. The WereLynn was doing a power jog today, hoping she could blow off some steam faster this way. So focused she was on what was in front of her that she didn't see the thin cord stretched across the path. She stepped right on it. A few seconds later, she heard the sound of mewing and meowing behind her. She looked back and her blood turned to ice. There was a full pack of cats right behind her. Not just any cats, however: they were pitch black, and they were looking at Lynn like she were a grilled trout. The sporty teen bolted along the grass. The horde of felines gave chase, but they couldn't keep up with her. She looked back, feeling a little calmer when she saw the cats were a distance behind, but panicked once more when she noticed how many were chasing her: thirteen black cats. This made her run even faster and harder. Fortunately, she managed to lose the felines. Unfortunately for her, she didn't see where she was going. She never saw the mirror as it was pushed in front of her. She slammed right into it, knocking it forward where it shattered to pieces. Luckily for her, the mirror was facing downward, so she wasn't cut by the shards of glass.

"Hey! You ok there, kid?" Shrieko asked, floating down from the roof to check on her.

"Yeah...I think so...I just ran into...what is this?" Lynn asked, kinda dazed and not connecting the shattering she heard with the impact. Shrieko shrugged, reaching down to pick the frame up for a look. Lynn's pupils dilated and she gulped when she saw the pieces of the mirror.

"Oh boy...that's hard luck right there…" The tall, thin ghost commented, looking down at the mess. When he looked up again, the werewolf girl was gone. "Huh? Where'd she go?"

"G….Get a hold of yourself, Lynn.." She told herself, borderlining a panic attack as she ran. "It's all in your head...it's all in your head…" She kept repeating in an attempt to calm herself. Once more, she wasn't really paying attention in front of her and ended up tripping over something in her way. She groaned and growled as she picked herself up off the grass, noticing it was a little end table she ran into. "Who the heck leaves a-?" She started to ask angrily, but her furious inquiry died in her throat when she saw a salt shaker on the dirt, and salt all over. Out of instinct, she reached down to the little white specks on the ground to throw it over her shoulder. However, she grabbed her own wrist with her other hand and struggled to resist doing it. "No, Lynn! You're beyond that!" She scolded herself, forcing herself away from the spilled salt. Her heart was racing as she tried to make herself calm down. "It's all in your head…" She started her mantra again, this time staying put so she wouldn't bump into something again. She turned away from the salt on the ground, only to stare an owl face to face, sitting in the hole in the wall where the goblin had gotten in the night before. Her face went pale as it hooted softly at her. She screamed as she stumbled back away from the owl and ran for it. The owl blinked, looked to the fourth wall and shrugged.

Lynn was a bundle of nerves by now, running away from the objects of misfortune she had just encountered. She was sweating bullets and pale as the Boo Brothers. She was continuing to recite her "it's all in your head" mantra when she heard a voice up ahead. "Lynn? Are you ok?" The werewolf Loud skidded to a stop, nearly running into Kaspa, who looked surprised and concerned.

"Kaspa? Oh….hey…" Lynn responded, trying to regain her wits. "Yeah...just...not having the best of days…" She explained, scratching the back of her head.

"Oh...I'm sorry to hear that." The daughter of Medusa said, looking sympathetically at her.

"Anyway, you're here a bit earlier than I thought. Something happen with your work out?"

"I decided to cut it short...had something on my mind that won't leave me be." She told the fur bearing Loud.

"Wow. Must be pretty big. If you don't mind my asking…"

"I don't mind at all. In fact, it involves you." Kaspa stated, which cause Lynn very much flat footed. "I have something I need to tell you…"

"What is it…?" Lynn was getting pretty worried now. What could be bothering Kaspa so much she interrupted her jog? And how was she (Lynn) involved?

"You see...from when we first met a few days ago…" Kaspa suddenly started blushing again. She was kinda wringing her tail in her hands before she started to nibble on the end of her tail. "...I...heehehe...I had...er, have...the biggest...the biggest crush…on you." She finally stammered out. Lynn just stood there in utter surprise. In spite of Kaspa's kinda obvious attempts to flirt, she really had no idea. Never did she imagine a girl would have a crush on her. As such, it took her a moment to process what she just heard. When she finally found her voice…

"No fooling…?" She asked, still not sure she heard correctly.

"Mm Hmmm." The gorgon gal responded, a coy smile on her face. "I wanted to tell you the other day at the restaurant, but things happened and then...I lost the nerve...I've been kicking myself for that, so to speak…"

'I know what's that like…' Lynn thought to herself, glancing up toward the castle. "Wow...I uh...never expected that…" She said awkwardly, a little nervous. To her surprise, Kaspa giggled slightly.

"And here I was worried I was being too obvious." She said. "But yeah. I really like you, Lynn." The WereLynn shuffled her feet a bit, looking like she was about to face an algebra test.

"Kaspa...I'm flattered...I really am…" She started, the serpent-teen's smile starting to falter. "...and you're a great person...really. But, I don't swing that way…" The werewolf girl explained. She felt kind of bad about it, but it was the truth.

"Oh…" Kaspa's eyes turned to the ground, disappointment clear in her voice.

"I'm sorry, Kas...but hey, we can still be friends, right...?"

"Yeah. Of course." She replied, looking back at her crush, giving a weak sort of smile. While Kaspa was being sincere, the weak smile and hint of disappointment in her tone didn't do much to help Lynn's unease. It didn't help either that she was in an overly agitated state and she wasn't really thinking clearly. "I think I'll head back out on the road and finish my jog. See you a little later, Lynn." She said in a somewhat neutral, turning back toward the front gate and starting to slither away.

"Kaspa…" Lynn called out, taking a few steps toward the gate, still convinced that the gorgon girl was more upset than she let on, but she was already well on her way, off the castle property. She sighed, her shoulders slumped as she watched her leave. "Great…" The ponytailed athlete grumbled to herself. "...my newest friend is upset with me...what rotten lu-" She quickly clapped her hand over her mouth. 'No! Don't say it!' She mentally scolded herself. Meanwhile, the hidden goblin had watched the scene unfold. It wasn't part of his plan, but worked in his favor, and he could see his actions were having the desired effect. Now that he had planted the idea that she was jinxed in her, it was time to water that mental seed and watch it grow. He hurled a banana peel right behind her as the saddened teen girl turned around. With her first step, she slipped and fell right on her back. "Ow…..dang it, Luan!" She shouted, but then she remembered her pranking sister was hundreds of miles away. This made her wonder where the peel come from.

She slowly got back to her feet, more fidgety than before. She staggered away from the spot where she fell. The moment she moved, a solid stone, decorative gargoyle slammed into the ground where she was mere seconds before, nearly landing on her tail. She was shivering with fear as she slowly looked back to see the gothic decoration sunk partially into the ground. If she hadn't moved when she had, she would have been a pancake. On one hand, that was kinda lucky. On the other hand, she was almost killed, and that was the hand she was focusing on. She fearfully backed away from the slab in the dirt, her nerves completely shot at this point. She turned to run, and stepped right onto a rake, which sprang up and smacked her in the snout. She groaned in pain, stumbling backward, only to get hit in the back of the head with another rake. Her anger building along with her paranoia and concerned, she grabbed the gardening implement behind her and tossed it to the ground beside her. It bounced upon hitting the ground, spun in the air, then landed handle down right on her foot. "Ow! Sod dang it!" She shouted, holding her hurt foot off the ground. With her sneakers on, it was only about as painful as stubbing a toe; but it was still very unpleasant. Her sanity was hanging by a thread as she made a mad dash for the nearest cover she thought she could find inside the grounds: the hedges. She dove right in and took cover among them, breathing heavily. "This is nuts…" she said to herself breathlessly as she recounted the events from earlier.

And just when Lynn thought things couldn't get any worse for her, she heard a chorus of mews and meows all around her. She slowly looked up at the hedge she was hiding behind to see the thirteen black cats from before, leering down at her. She gulped and whimpered as the pack of alley cats pounced on her. She screamed as she fell to the ground. The felines weren't attacking her though; instead they were nuzzling her and licking her shirt and face, one actually biting her shoelaces. "Get them off me! Get them off me!" She screamed, flailing about, which sent some of the kitties leaping back, but they came right back for more. They seemed obsessed with her for some reason. Right when she was about to have something akin to a panic attack, a deep growl was heard nearby. The pack of cats turned their heads to see a portly, ghostly bulldog with a pink baseball cap on floating there. The moment it had their attention, it started barking madly. The noise caused the high strung cats to screech and bolt for points unknown. With the cats gone, the dog turned back into Meeko. "Hey, Lynn...are you ok?" He asked, leaning over her. Her eyes were filled with tears and she was shaking like a leaf. "Lynn?" Without saying a word to the scaredy ghost as she leaped to her feet and ran like the wind toward the castle, sobbing uncontrollably. "Oh no.."

* * *

Inside the castle, Luna and Albert were wandering down the halls, chatting about what had been happening in her life lately. She was right in the middle of a story of when she and her bandmates were playing at a high school prom (not at her school).

"...and then, if you'll believe it, some kid thought it would be hilarious to lock me and Sam in the dressing room." Luna told him with a bit of a grin on her face.

"Really now? Kids these days…" Albert mock complained with a chuckle. "So, what'd you two do about it?"

"Well, we tried to break the door down, but wouldn't you know it? They actually had strong doors there. Shows you where the budget goes, eh?" She snickered a bit before continuing. "Sam eventually noticed an air vent on the ceiling. I boosted her up to get through it, then she helped me up. It was a little cramped, but we were able to crawl along. Eventually, we were able to get close to backstage and, wouldn't you know it? There was the little punk bragging to his friends about what he had done. Sam had the bright idea to record his little confession, while I decided to take a leaf from Lucy and Luan's book." Albert chuckled a bit, eager to hear how this story ended. "Well, once the three were laughing about it, I carefully moved the vent cover and sprang out of the vents, landing between them, yelling 'Surprise surprise, it's me again!'."

"Hahahaha! I bet that scared the bejabbers out of them."

"You don't know the half of it, Pop Pop. The looks on their faces were priceless. Here. See for yourself. Sam snapped a pic." She turned her phone to her grandfather, showing him the three teens looking shocked, Luna standing between the three with a triumphant smirk. After giving him a moment to laugh, she continued. "At that point, the principal came around, wondering what was going on. The kids tried to say I was gonna beat them up, but Sam played our evidence for the big man. Short version, that one kid is gonna be working on the detention chain gang for quite a spell."

"And this is why you don't mess with our family." Albert said, pulling Luna into a one armed hug. "We got good heads on our shoulders." He added, mussing up the rock and roll Loud's hair. Luna giggled and was about to tell him that Sam did most of the work, but at that moment, a blur of brown, red and white zipped past them.

"What the?"

"What was that?" Her Pop Pop inquired as he looked down the hall. Not only was whatever that was moving really fast, his eyesight wasn't as good as it used to be.

"Not sure...but it kinda smelled like a can of cat food." The musical teen commented with a slight cringe.

"Hey...did Lynn run this way?" Meeko inquired, looking more worried than usual.

"Lynn?" Luna and Albert asked in unison.

"Yeah. I found her under a pile of black cats screaming and, when I scared them away, she just ran off crying." Her sister and grandfather simply looked to one another with concern before they joined the plump poltergeist in chasing after the distraught werewolf. They didn't have to go much further though; she had ran straight into her room and slammed the door shut, locking it before she started crying her eyes out. All this noise had gotten Francisco's attention, who was in the room next door. He emerged from his room and knocked on her door.

"Lynn?"

"Go away!" She screamed, making the boy jump in surprise.

"Francisco! Is she in there?" Luna asked, the worry clear on her face.

"I think so." He replied. The third eldest sister charged forward and tried to open the door, only to find it locked.

"Lynn? It's us. What's wrong?"

"Go away!"

"Yeah...Not happening, sis."

"Come on, Lynn. Talk to us. Come on out and tell us what's the matter?" Albert said through the door.

"I'm not coming out!" Lynn snapped in return through her tears. "I'll just give my curse to you guys!"

"Curse? What are you talking about?" Her crush questioned, looking utterly lost.

"I'm cursed! Jinxed!" She wailed, throwing herself onto her bed and onto her pillow. "I've brought the worst luck upon myself and I don't want to spread it to you guys!"

"Oh no…" Her older sister mutter to herself, her concern only growing. "She's relapsed…" She took a deep breath and knocked on the door again. "Lynn, just keep telling yourself...it's not real. It's all-"

"SHUT UP!" The sheer volume of her screech nearly staggered Luna, and she was used to high volumes. "You weren't out there! You didn't see what happened to me! I'm not coming out! End of story!"

"But you can't practice for the race in there, Lynn…" Francisco pointed out.

"I'm not going to run in that race!" This phrase sent the three of them from worried to downright alarmed.

"Oh no...this is bad…" The worrywort spirit commented, shaking his head.

* * *

Meanwhile, the goblin was lurking outside Lynn's window, grinning ear to ear when he heard Lynn was not planning to be in the race anymore. Feeling his work there was done, he silently jumped off the sill and quickly scaled down the wall to the ground. He was so thrilled with his success, he didn't notice Freako and Brunch on the wall ahead having a debate. "I'm telling you yer nuts." The bushy haired leader of the Boo Brothers said, waving off whatever the hunchback had said earlier. "Settlers of Cattan...a fine game, sure. But you can't beat the simple, yet strategic All Aboard."

"I will admit that All Aboard and it's many expansions and versions are fantastic games. I won't deny that. But the theme doesn't really appeal to us for more than an occasional play here and there." Brunch replied. "Settlers of Cattan, as well as the card game, on the other hand, we could play all day, every day."

"Isn't that game more made for more than two?"

"Isn't All Aboard?"

"Touche…" Freako replied, arms crossed as he conceded that point. He looked away for a moment and noticed the creature scurrying across the grass. "Hey...what's that?" The sophisticated monster man turned to see what the head of the Boo Brothers was looking at. He frowned when he spotted the small monstrous humanoid.

"Curious...what is that goblin doing here?" He wondered quietly as they watched him slink across the grounds and through the hole in the wall. "How did that get there?"

"I don't like this…" Freako whispered. "I'm gonna tail that guy…"

"Good idea. I will relate this news to Count Dracula." Brunch said with a nod, letting the brawny ghost flying off after the goblin, while he ran toward the castle along the wall.

* * *

"Ok. Lynn needs some serious help here…" Luna said, her back to the door and her hand on her chin as she thought. "But she won't open or even unlock the door for us because she's convinced she's cursed…"

"And she isn't listening to us from out here…" Albert commented.

"Wait...isn't there another way into that room?" Francisco piped up, an idea occuring to him.

"The window, yeah...but it's really dangerous to try and get from one window to another from up here." Luna pointed out.

"Mr Meeko...do you think you could carry me over to that window?" He asked the dumpy phantom.

"...I guess. You look light enough."

"Alright. I'll go that way and try and talk to her there. Maybe one of you could go get something that could help her calm down."

"...she mentioned that she liked the subs from this place she went to with Kaspa. I'll go get her a meatball sub from there. She always feels better after a hoagie." Luna said with a smile before she ran off.

"But didn't Dracula say-?" Pop Pop tried to ask.

"He said suggested! And I'll be just fine!" She called back as she ran down the halls. While she was doing that, Francisco and Meeko hurried into his own room, the boy opening the window before the ghost picked him up and floated him over to Lynn's window. He looked inside (as the window was still broken), seeing his teammate crying into her pillow. It broke his heart to see her like this. He quickly hopped through the window, then motioned Meeko to head back into the hall. After a moment, he cleared his throat.

"Lynn…" Her head jerked up from the cushion and looked back at the boy so fact, she actually hurt her neck slightly.

"Francisco!? What are you doing here!? And how!?" He gestured a thumb over to the broken window. She took one look at the opening and face palmed.

"As for what I'm doing here, I wanted to talk to you, Lynn."

"Get out of here, Franc...or you'll get the bad luck too…" She said sadly, planting her face right back into her damp pillow.

"Come on. You're not bad-"

"Yes I am!" She yelled into her pillow. "Thirteen black cats not only crossed my path, but chased me too, I broke a mirror, knocked over a whole shaker of salt, and had an owl hoot at me in the daytime…"

"That doesn't mean any-"

"-and RIGHT AFTER THAT…!" She interrupted him, her hands clenched into fists. "I slipped on a mystery banana peel, got attacked by those mangy cats, stepped on like three rakes, nearly got hit by a falling gargoyle, and top it all off, my newest friend here probably hates me now…..not in that order…"

"Lynn…"

"If that isn't a sign I'm cursed, I dont-"

"Lynn! Listen to me!" Francisco nearly shouted, grabbing the werewolf girl by the shoulders and turning her to face him. She was startled and stunned by this sudden assertiveness and firmness in his tone and eyes. "What happened out there was a series of coincidences and accidents. Nothing more. You know that."

"How do you know that for certain…? How do you know even being in the same room as me won't cause your luck to be cursed…?"

"Because even if I did believe in that (which I don't), it's a risk I would take for you. We all would." He told her, more comfort in his voice now. She slowly looked him right in the eyes, very touched about what he said. A ghost of a smile appeared on her. "Well, that's a start." Francisco commented, sitting down beside her and keeping one arm around her, hand on her shoulder. "Now, let's start…" He paused for a moment when he noticed a strange smell. "Uh...what's that smell?" He asked with a slight frown.

"I've been running and jogging most of the morning and haven't had a chance to shower yet...cut me some slack…" She responded, slightly offended.

"No, not that. It smells like you rolled around in a pile of mackerel...covered in catnip?" Lynn blinked when she heard this, then sniffed her own jersey.

"...son of a gun...how'd I miss that with this snout?" Lynn wondered aloud.

"Did something happen before all this happened?"

"...well, this gardener guy sprayed me with something by accident, saying he was feeding the plants." Francisco frowned when he heard that, looking at his sports partner.

"Something's not right...this 'gardener' sprays you with this stuff that smells of fish and catnip, and then you happen to run into exactly thirteen black cats…" He said with clear suspicion in his voice. "And a mirror and salt...what were those even doing outside anyway?"

"...you know...I kinda wondered the same thing...but then I was trying not to freak out about it too...mission failed there…" The Were Lynn said, looking down to the stony floor in shame.

"...Lynn, this sounds like a set up to me." He reasoned, gently lifting her chin back up to look at him. "I think someone was purposely trying to make you think you were bad luck."

"...you really think so?"

"Yeah. I mean, what are the odds? The spraying, the cats, all this bad luck stuff happening all together? Coincidence? I think not."

"...I could see that...but what about what happened with Kaspa? You don't think she's involved, do you?" She asked in concern.

"What did happen with her? Why do you think she hates you?"

"Well...when she came by to visit...she confessed to me that she had a crush on me." She told him, looking away from him again. Francisco blinked, feeling both surprise and even a touch of fear. Did she really like Lynn that much? Did Lynn share those feelings with her? Had he missed his own chance? He shook his head to clear it, his cheeks red as he regained his senses. Fortunately for him, she didn't see any of this. "...I told her I was flattered, but I didn't swing that way...she said she would see me around and left after…"

"Did she say she hated you for it? Or was she even angry?"

"...not outright...but she looked like she…" She paused a moment to remember the scene. "...well...I guess it was more disappointment and sadness...but she admitted her feelings for me and I rejected her…"

"That's no guarantee. I mean, yeah, it would hurt to be rejected, but from what little I've learned about her, I don't think she would hate you if you at least tried to be nice." The Loud lycan glanced slightly at him, considering what he had just said. It made a little sense to her, but she wasn't entirely convinced. However, what he was saying about her misfortunes earlier; the more she thought about it now that she was calming down, the more it looked and sounded like someone was trying to mess with her head. And to her consternation, it had worked...at least for a little while. She sighed and put her face into her hands.

"Good grief...I feel like a complete idiot…" She groaned. "Letting all this get to me again…"

"Don't beat yourself up over it, Lynnsanity." He told her with a hearty pat on the back and a smile. "No one is completely invincible. We all have our Achilles Heel. I mean, I can't play outfield to save my life. But I'm working on it...just like you."

"Huh?" She sat up straight, looking at her crush.

"Don't think I hadn't noticed you haven't been doing your usual dances or rituals at our last couple games. A lot of us had. And you hadn't shouted at anyone for using the bathroom before a game in a while. You've clearly been trying to beat it. You just got overwhelmed this time. Happens even to the best, which you are." He said with a soft chuckle. "The key is to get right back in there, ready to go another round, right?"

"Hehe...yeah. You're right...thanks Francisco."

"Anytime." He responded, right when Lynn gave him a big hug. Both of them blushed deeply, with Francisco returning the hug, the two of them sporting big smiles.

* * *

While this was going on, Luna had been running as fast as her legs could carry her to the nearby town, and then through the town to the sandwich restaurant. She was in such a hurry, she almost ran past the place. She had nearly gone a full block away when she realized and hastily turned back. She burst through the door and ran to the counter. "Excuse me…" She gasped as she regained her breath, the golem behind the counter giving her a strange look. "I need...a meatball sub...with jalapenos, onions and extra sriracha sauce."

"Would you like a lemonade with that?" The clay construct inquired.

"You should get one. It's amazing." The voice of Kaspa suggested from not far away. She was seated by herself, drinking a large cup of the sweet, lemony drink.

"No fooling? Then I'll take four lemonades with it, please." The avid guitarist requested. The man made of clay nodded and started on the order as the brunette rocker turned to look at Kaspa. "Hey Kas."

"Hey Luna. Getting some lunch for your sister?" She asked curiously, looking in fairly decent spirits.

"Kinda. She's in kind of a bad place right now." Luna explained, looking pretty worried.

"Really? What's wrong? Is she hurt? Or sick?" Kaspa asked, her voice thick with worry.

"Thankfully no, but from what I can tell, she's had some bad things happen and...well, it's kinda gotten to her."

"Oh no...is there any way I can help?" She asked, slithering over to her.

"Right now, any extra help would be appreciated." The third oldest Loud child said, tapping her foot nervously. "Come back with me to Castle Dracula. If Pop Pop and Francisco can't talk some sense into her, maybe you can…" Kaspa nodded and waited with Luna as the sandwich artist made Lynn's snack and their lemonade. After she paid, she handed Kaspa the drink carrier, she grabbed the sack with the sandwich and the two of them left with all haste. Unfortunately, when they left the building, they found themselves face to face with four manbats from the Leatherwing Clan.

"Well well...what have we here?" A tall, gray furred bat creature inquired with a smirk.

"The little werewolf's sister and her bestie to boot." A brawny vampire bat human hybrid responded, his arms crossed in front of him.

"I bet if we were take you two hostage...we could get her to drop out of the race…" An especially ugly dog faced bat man reasoned, grinning sinisterly at them. Luna was prepared to put up a fight, even though the odds were against them. However, Kaspa slithered forward, glaring at the bat creatures.

"Leave us alone, creeps."

"Why don't you try and make us?" The gray bat asked in a mocking tone, his fellow gang members laughing. The largest of them all stepped toward the gorgon, only to stop still as a statue when she opened her eyes widely, a sickly green light shining from them. The remaining members of the clan were too slow to realize they should flee, for one look from Kaspa put them all in a similar trance like state as their bulky brethren.

"I command you all to get lost!" She demanded, pointing off in a random direction.

"Yes, mistress…" They droned together, each of the four gang members heading off in different directions and walking aimlessly, like a pack of mindless zombies.

"Dudette...what was that?" An awestruck and slightly afraid Luna asked.

"My entrancing gaze." Kaspa answered, looking back to her with a smile. "While my mother can turn others into stone, my special look can enchant those with weak wills who pose a threat."

"Uh...I see." Was all the rock and roll gal could say before she returned her focus to the task at hand: they needed to get back to the castle. "Come on, Kas. Let's get moving, before Lynn really does quit the race."

* * *

Back at the Castle, Albert was waiting outside the door to Lynn's room, alongside Meeko and Count Dracula. After Brunch told him about the goblin intruder on the property, he wanted to make sure Lynn was alright. Upon arrival, the elderly gentleman informed the Count of the situation; that Francisco was already inside talking to her. Right now, all they could do was wait, so wait they did for nearly twenty minutes. About the time Dracula was considering just turning into fog and passing under the door, they heard the click of the door lock and saw the door open. Out came Francisco and a much calmer WereLynn. "Hey there, sport…" Albert said, walking over and kneeling down to her. "You doing alright?" He inquired, speaking softly and calmly.

"I am now Pop Pop, thanks." She replied with a weak smile. "I'm sorry for worrying you all over something so stupid…"

"Vhat exactly happened, Miss Loud?" Dracula asked, his arms crossed in front of him.

"...I ran into several things I thought gave me bad luck, then experienced a couple bad things to make me think I was jinxed…" Lynn told him.

"Like vhat, specifically?"

"Thirteen black cats, broke a mirror, spilled salt…" She started to list, the vampire lord's frown becoming more pronounce. "...and an owl in the day time."

"Meeko, go find your brothers and Crunch and search the grounds." Dracula ordered, the overweight ghost quick to obey. He had his suspicions about this, though he knew that even if they found evidence of sabotage, it still wasn't enough to link Mr Rotters to the crime. Still, it would be a start. "Are you sure you're alright, Miss Loud?"

"Positive, thanks to Francisco." She said, giving him a playful punch in the arm with a grin.

"Good...good…" Vlad said, nodding. Right about then, Luna had finally returned, looking pretty out of breath.

"Oh...hey Lynn...you're out of your room...that mean you're feeling better?" She asked between deep breaths.

"Yeah. Sorry for going nuts like that, sis."

"Heh. Don't fret, little sis. It's all good." Luna replied with a reassuring smile. "Picked you up a little snack." She added, holding up the bag with the sub in it.

"Mmmm. I was just thinking about lunch too. Thanks, Luna." The werewolf Loud said, gratefully accepting the bag.

"And what's a sub without a nice, cold lemonade, eh?" Lynn blinked as she looked behind Luna to see Kaspa standing there, holding a cardboard carrier of four lemonades in her hand, as well as he own half drank cup with her tail.

"Kaspa?"

"Were you expecting maybe Perseus?" The gorgon inquired with a slight smirk.

"No...but I really wasn't expecting to see you again…" The sporty teen admitted, which only confused Kaspa. "I'm sorry for hurting your feelings, Kas…"

"Wait...hurting my feelings? What are you talking about?"

"When I told you earlier-" Lynn started to say.

"Oh! That. My feelings weren't that hurt." Kaspa cut in, smiling lightly to the werewolf girl. Now it was Lynn's turn to be confused. "I mean, I was pretty disappointed. Who wouldn't be after being told by their crush they didn't feel the same?"

"Yeah...so, does that mean you don't hate me?"

"Me? Hate you?" The gorgon girl couldn't help but laugh a bit at this. "Where'd you get a silly idea like that?"

"Hehe. I guess I wasn't exactly thinking straight earlier…" The ponytailed werewolf admitted, chuckling in a slight embarrassed manner. "So we're still friends?"

"Naturally." Kaspa replied with a big smile. "I mean, if I thought highly enough about you to possibly date you, then we should be awesome friends, right?"

"Right!" Lynn ran over to her and held out her fist for a fist bump, which Kaspa enthusiastically returned.

"...don't suppose I could still get a hug, could I?" The serpentine gal asked, hopeful.

"Of course, buddy." Lynn waited for her to hand the drinks over to Albert before she gave her a big bear hug, which Kaspa gladly gave back in kind, a bit of a blush on her face.

"...and how about this?" She asked with a sly grin, gently scratching behind her ears. Lynn shivered for a moment before quickly slipping out from under her arm, a silly grin on her face.

"Now you're pushing your luck." She replied.

"Can't blame a girl for trying, can you?" Kaspa asked innocent with a shrug. It was then Francisco had gotten a mischievous idea. He snuck up behind Lynn and gave her a little scritch as well. She nearly jumped out of her fur, turning rapidly to face him.

"Don't you start too." She play scolded him, giggling. Albert and Luna just watched and laughed lightly as both Kaspa and Francisco teased her by trying to give her head scrubs, only to have her turn and face one of them in turn when they try, giggling uncontrollably. Even Count Dracula had a slight grin on his face, though he knew this was far from over. The race was still a few days away. However, from what Meeko had told him, the goblin left long before now. If said half pint monster was in Cerano's employ, then he would have no way of knowing Lynn was feeling better now. In that case, the ghoul should leave her in peace...and he'll be in for a nasty surprise when race day comes around.


	9. Chapter 9

Bets, Lies, and Goblin Hunts

While Lynn was recovering from her superstition episode, Freako was soaring high overhead, keeping his eye on the goblin far below. Unfortunately for him, the conniving little monster had noticed him giving chase. Being the clever little pest he was, he made a mad dash for Laruba Woods; one of the many dark, dense woodlands that surrounded Dracula's castle. "Oh no you don't…" Freako muttered to herself, diving down to follow him into the woods. Even though the sun was high over head, the woods were as dark a night. However, the ghost in the yellow hat was used to the dark, but so was his quarry. The goblin darted between trees and bushes, while the spirit went through the trees. About two minutes into the chase, the mini monstrous humanoid just disappeared. "Huh?" Freako came to a stop amidst the thick vegetation, his eyes scanning around the area. "Where'd he go?" He wondered, completely lost. He knew the goblin had to be in there somewhere; and he was right. He had been using his small size to his advantage to slip through the thick underbrush, allowing him a chance to continue his escape at his own pace and unnoticed. After a few minutes of searching, the thick built ghost was about to head back to the castle when he heard some voices not far away. Curious and hoping they might have seen his quarry, he floated over for a look.

A few yards away, on a well beaten path through the woods, the Hex Girls were taking a little nature walk, since they had quite a wait before their bus could be fix. Thorne and Luna were simply enjoying the peace and the darkness, while Dusk was reading through a travel brochure. "Huh. Isn't that interesting?" She commented.

"What is?" Thorne asked, looking back at her blonde haired drummer.

"It says here that legends say that a fabled ring of Dracula was once hidden in Laruba Woods."

"Dracula's ring, you say?" Luna asked with a smirk. "You mean the same ring we saw him wear at the party?" The raven haired band leader chuckled at that, while Dusk looked rather salty.

"...I didn't say it was so...the legends did." She grumbled.

"Oh..hey ladies." Freak said as he levitated into sight.

"Oh. It's you again. Hello." Luna said, smiling at the ghost.

"Freako's the name, and right now, goblin hunting is the game. Have you seen one run by here, by chance?"

"Can't say we have." Thorne replied, crossing her arms and frowning slightly. "What this goblin do to deserve being hunted?"

"He was caught lurking about Castle Dracula." The leader of the Boo Brothers explained, jabbing a thumb back toward Dracula's castle. "We can't be certain till we question him, but we think he was trying to pull some funny stuff with Lynn." This got the undivided attention of the Hex Girls.

"Lynn? What does she have to do with it?" Dusk inquired, her eyebrows raised.

"Long story short, we think someone is attempting to sabotage her." Freako continued to expand upon. "The LeatherWing Clan had tried to mess with her the other day, and someone tried to give her food poisoning and break her legs. All in one day. So, naturally, we're all kinda jumpy about suspicious folks lurking where she is."

"...yeah, I can see that…" A horrified Luna said, her fellow bandmates rendered speechless.

"Well, if you see the little sneak, would you let us know, ladies?"

"Sure thing. We have Luna Loud's number, so we'll send her a heads up if we see something." Thorne told him with a nod.

"Thanks. I knew you ladies were a class act." He said with a smile. "I'm gonna do another sweep of the area, then head back to the castle. See you around."

"Later Freako." The Hex Girls responded as the ghost flew off. In truth, they weren't entirely sure if they fully believed him or not. However, they did remember he seemed really friendly with Lynn when they met a few days back, and he did help them with their tour bus, along with the other ghosts. As they were debating this, they saw a rustling in the bushes ahead. Thorne stopped Dusk and Luna in their tracks, and they all went silent for a moment. Seconds later, the goblin in question scurried across the path, jumping into the bushes on other side like he were a rabbit headed for cover.

"Did you guys see…?" Luna asked quietly, pointing to the shrubbery.

"Yeah…" Came the hushed response from Dusk.

"Should we call Little Lu?"

"Not just yet." Thorne said softly. "Not saying that Freako wasn't being honest, but wouldn't it be good to have all the facts before shooting our mouths off?" Silence. "That's what I thought. Let's follow him and see if he's the right goblin...and maybe who's been messing with the kid."

"...and here I thought we were the Hex Girls, not Josie and the Pussycats…" Dusk muttered before she followed Thorne and Luna in pursuit of the creature. The three of them followed the little chaos causer as carefully as they could through the woods, and then out into town. This wasn't easy, as the goblin was a little paranoid after having just lost his ghostly pursuer and checked his back pretty frequently. He did spot them once, but as they were in town and looked like they were doing the tourist thing, he paid them no mind. By the time he arrived at Mr Rotters' summer home nearly a half hour later, he was feeling both relieved and very cocky. He strutted right up to the front door and knocked, waiting for the spectral servant to let him in. Once inside, he made his way to Cerano's office, knocking on the dusty old door.

"Enter." The ghoul called out, looking up as the goblin stepped inside. "Ah. Welcome back my friend. I trust you have good news for me?" Cerano said with a smile, setting his pen down.

"Ja. Miss Loud has been broken." He answered with a sinister grin. "A few bad omens, followed by some misfortunes, and she cracked like an egg."

"Good. Good." The undead man said, rubbing his hands together. "And you're sure she is no longer a problem?"

"I heard ze news right from ze horse's mouth. She screamed zat she would not be running ze race to her family. Ze fraulein is broken." The green skinned, pointy eared creature said with a smirk on his face, pressing his fingers together.

"Very good...that is a load off my mind." Cerano replied, chuckling with relief. "You've more than earned your keep. I will be cutting you a check right after the race is over. Must make sure the job is done, you understand."

"...I understand." The goblin answered, though he didn't look happy about it. "We will be in touch zen, Mister Rotters. Until ze race."

"Until the race." Cerano responded cheerfully, watching as the irked little creature departed the office.

"Did you get all that?" Thorne asked quietly, as Luna held her phone close to the window into Cerano's office (which they had managed to open a crack), recording what had transpired just a moment ago.

"Sure did." The scarlet haired keyboardist whispered with a smirk.

"Good. Now let's get moving. Lynn and the others are going to want to see this." Dusk commented, when they heard the door inside slam open.

"Hold up...something else is happening now." Luna said in a hushed voice, the three going quiet so they could listen in.

The well to do ghoul jumped from his seat as the door was kicked open. In the doorway was a very stern faced Razortooth Thrasher, his sharp teeth bared. "M...Mr Thrasher...to what do I owe-"

"Shut it, Rotters." The shark man snapped, causing Cerano and all three Hex Girls to wince in fright. "You have some serious explaining to do!"

"W...What do you mean?"

"I mean that massive withdrawal you recently took from the 'Monster Marathon' account…" The hook nosed corpse's eyes shrink when he heard this. The money he took to pay Zeral's hospital bill. But how did he know? "...Seriously, Rotters...you put the money into a business account in MY BANK and don't expect me to notice something like that? Especially an investment I am STRONGLY interested in?" He asked him with a furious sneer, as if he could read Cerano's mind, moving closer to his desk.

"N...N...Now, Mr Thrasher...you have to understand...Zeral was put in the hospital by an unknown assailant…" This was a bold faced lie, but no way was he telling his carnivorous investor that he KNEW who did it and why. "He is the star of the race...it's vital that he…"

"I understand that much. What I don't understand is why you took it out of the account you set up for the marathon. The account made to pay for your race, to gather the funds and profits...to hold the money you intended to pay ME back with…" He growled this last part, clearly the most angry about this. "Why not take it from your own, personal account!?"

"...Mr Thrasher, you must understand...I was caught short at the time as a result of-"

"I'm not interested in any more excuses, Rotters. The way I see it now, with the time you have left and the remaining seats left to be sold...there is no way you can pay me back for my investment…" He leaned even closer, his scowl showing off even more teeth. "...what do you think we should do about THAT!?"

"Mr Thrasher! Wait! There….there is a way I can pay you back!" Mr Rotters suddenly shouted, holding his hands in front of his face.

"...I'm listening." He growled, staying in the ghoul's face as he leered at him.

"I bet a small fortune on Zeral to win the race! It'll make me more than enough to pay you back! I swear!" Cerano squealed in fright, hoping it would make the shark back up.

"...you honestly expect me to accept that? That you intend to pay me back with what you hope to win on a gamble?"

"It's not a gamble! It's a sure thing! My cousin is sure to win! He's unbeatable in a race!" The wight pleaded. "I can easily double my money! And you can too! Look!" He hastily handed him a sheet of paper with the odds for each racer, his hand shaking terribly. The shark banker snatched the paper away and glanced down at it. Sure enough, the odds for Zeral were 2 to 1. He could easily double his money...if Zeral won. His eyes travelled down the list as he only considered the proposal in passing...until he saw the odds of Lynn Loud winning. Her odds were a shocking 50 to 1. This amazed the bank CEO, as he knew what Lynn was capable of. She had darn near beaten the four legged ghoul in a foot race.

'They must not know…' Razortooth thought, tapping his snout. "...you know, Cerano...I think we may be able to do something here…"

"...Y...Yeah?" The ghoul asked with a trembling voice, slowly lowering his arms.

"Indeed. It is unorthodox and risky...but investment itself is a gamble sometimes. So here is how it will go down. I will accept your offer to place a bet with regard to your loan with us. Should I win, I will count it toward what you owe. But should I lose, what I lost will be added to what you owe...and you BETTER be able to pay. Do you accept these terms?" The shark man asked, leering at Cerano.

"Y...Yes, Mr Thrasher….don't you worry...you will get your money, and then some." The frightened undead man told him, about one step away from hiding under his desk.

"Very well." From inside his fine sport coat, the banking thresher shark pulled out a blank sheet of paper and started to write on it; creating a contract for them both to sign. It was a little rough and rushed, but it would hold up in court if need be. He signed it himself, then allowed Cerano to sign it as well. His signature was a little sloppy as he couldn't stop his pale hands from shaking. "Fine then. As ever, a pleasure doing business with you, Mr Rotters." Razortooth said as he pocketed the contract and took the betting form with him. Mr Rotters breathed a sigh of relief once his fearsome investor had departed. He knew just how close he ended up to becoming chum, and felt pleased with his quick thinking. Granted, if Zeral lost, he would be in the deepest of soup, but with Lynn Loud out of the way (as near as he knew), he felt everything would be just fine. Little did he know that Mr Thrasher had no intention on betting on Zeral. His eyes were on the fifty to one odds connected to Lynn's victory. Between that, and the fact he knew Zeral was in the hospital and would be out of sorts by the time he got out, he felt she was the far safer and more profitable bet. He wasn't going to tell Cerano this. Why not let him squirm a little, the investing aquatic predator thought with a smirk as he walked down the path. So focused on the paper in front of him, he never saw the Hex Girl's still hidden by the window to Cerano's study.

"Well...that escalated in a hurry…" Luna commented quietly as she stopped the recording.

"No kidding...come on, girls. Let's get lost before that rotting creep gets wise." Thorne whispered, motioning the others to follow her across the yard and off the property, making tracks to their hotel while the red headed musician sent the video to Luna Loud.

* * *

"A goblin, you say?" Lynn and Luna's Pop Pop inquired, after hearing what Dracula had to say with regards to the goblinoid intruder on the grounds earlier. "You think he was the guy who triggered my granddaughter?" Albert asked, cracking his knuckles.

"That vould be a safe bet...ve von't know for sure until ve question him…" It was around this point when Meeko, Shrieko, and Crunch had returned to the hall. They had gathered as much evidence from the grounds as they could and left it all in the entrance hall for Vlad's perusal later...except for the sprayer, which the hunchback brought to them. "Ah. I see your search vas successful."

"Sure was, Drac. We found all kinds of stuff. The broken mirror, the table with the salt…" Shrieko started.

"...the cage for the cats, piano wire tied around the gargoyle…" Meeko continued, tapping a finger for each item listed.

"...bland blis bling." Crunch concluded, holding the nozzle of the pesticide sprayer closer to the master of the castle. The vampire father took a slight whiff of the sprayer and winced.

"Ugh. Fish and catnip…" Dracula groaned in disgust.

"Well, that certainly confirms that someone was trying to get in Lynn's head…" Luna said, leaning against the wall as she sipped her lemonade. "...but it doesn't quite prove the goblin did it…"

"Nor does it prove that Mr Rotters was connected either…" This much really irked the nosferatu. Say what he would about the ghoul, he did a pretty darn good job of covering his tracks so far. "I can only hope Freako can catch him…"

"Sorry, Count, but no can do…" Freako confessed sadly as he phased through the wall, shrugging his shoulders. "I lost the sneak somewhere in Laruba Woods."

"Curse it all…"

"It's not all bad, though. I ran into the Hex Girls out there and asked them to keep an eye out." He added. "If they see anything, they'll let us know."

"...vell, that is something, I suppose." Vlad said with a sigh. It certainly wasn't what he wanted to hear, but it was better than nothing. Besides, all was well with Lynn again, so he was willing to take that as a win.

"With that out of the way, I think I'm going to hit the showers...so I can stop stop being a magnet for mangy alley cats." Lynn said, walking back into her room, with Luna, Kaspa and Francisco snickering a little.

* * *

About an hour later, The two Loud sisters, the young man and the gorgon teen were relaxing out on one of the many balconies, chatting animatedly about various subjects: previous shenanigans the Louds had gotten into, some of the places Kaspa explored in the past, and eventually, dating. Luna primarily led the conversation on this subject, as she was the only one among them who had any real dating experience. She told them about a few guys and at least one girl she had dated once, but didn't lead anywhere, and one guy she dated a few times before she met Sam. "...he was a fun guy, don't get me wrong, but...I just couldn't feel the love tonight, know what I'm saying? So we decided to part ways. We kept it touch for a little while, but soon enough lost contact."

"That's unfortunate…" Kaspa commented, leaning against her tail like it were a throw pillow. "But at least you found happiness with Sam."

"Yeah. He must be a great guy, the way you talk about him." Francisco piped up.

"She." The rock and roll Loud corrected him. This made the young baseball player blink. He had no idea that was even a thing. Before he could question it, the gorgon teen spoke up, looking at Lynn.

"How about you, Lynn? Have you ever dated before?"

"Me? Nah. Between school, sports and occasional babysitting, my calendar is pretty full." The sporty werewolf replied. "...not that I wouldn't be open to trying…" She added, glancing slightly at Francisco, blushing. Kaspa's eyes darted between the two for a moment, the gears turning in her head.

"I see. What about you, Francisco?"

"Huh? Oh…Uh...I haven't really dated a lot either…" He admitted sheepishly.

"You're kidding. A good looking guy like you?" She said in faux surprise. "I'm sure there's someone you have your eye one...or has their eye on you." The moment she said that, both teens looked away from each other, their cheeks bright red and silly smiles on their faces. Kaspa smirked, her suspicions confirmed. Luna covered her mouth with her hand to keep herself from giggling so much. "Well, whoever you have your eyes on...I strongly recommend you tell them how you feel sooner rather than later. I'd offer the same advice to whoever may be admiring you from afar as well, whomever they may be." She added slyly. Their eyes kinda shift toward one another for a moment before some hard rock music started playing.

"Oops. Sorry. Just my phone telling me I got a text." Luna chuckled apologetically as she pulled out her cell. "Hey. It's from Luna from the Hex Girls. Looks like a video…" She is silent for a moment as she narrowed her eyes, looking closer at it. "Sweet mother of all that rocks...we need to show this to Drac!"

"What? What is it?" Lynn asked as her sister ran for the door.

"I think they got the goblin on film with Mr Rotters!" The musically inclined Loud shouted back as she continued to run. Kaspa's eyes widened and she slithered off after Luna. Lynn was about to get up and follow them, but then a thought hit her. She reached out and gently took hold of Francisco's arm.

"Huh?" The young man stopped, looking up at Lynn. "What's up, Lynnsanity? Don't you want to see the video?"

"I can see it anytime." She pointed out. "I share a room with my sister, after all. But this...I gotta do now." He slowly turned to face the werewolf girl, wondering what she meant. "Francisco...as my...uh...letters before probably clued you in on...I...er…" She stammered, becoming more and more nervous with every word. "Dang it, Lynn...you've faced bullies much bigger than you, fought an armed, murderous monster hunter, and didn't even flinch in the face of some of the biggest monsters in the world...yet you lose your nerve talking to him!?' She scolded herself mentally. 'He's just a boy...a handsome, awesome, sweet…..'

"...had a crush on me?" He finished her sentence for her, bringing her out of her own head and bringing an even deeper blush to her face. "Yeah, I remember-"

"Actually...it's not had. It's have." She interrupted him softly, having difficulty looking at him. Francisco paused mid sentence, his eyes set on her. "I...still do really like you...a lot." She admitted, her whole face turning red through her fur. "I mean, how can I not? You're awesome. You're an incredible baseball player, a really sweet guy, the kinda guy I can rely on in a tight spot, really cute…" She probably could have gone on, but she was red enough in the face as it stood. She wasn't the only one either. Francisco's face was glowing as well.

"R...really? You mean that, Lynn?"

"Every word of it." The sporty werewolf replied, slowly turning to finally look him in the eyes. She was surprised to see his face so red; just as much as she was.

"This may not come as a surprise to you, Lynn...but I feel the same about you." Francisco told her, a smile spreading on his face.

"Wait. Seriously!?" Lynn asked in utter shock. Her crush chuckled lightly.

"Very seriously. I mean, how can I not?" He said, attempting to imitate her comment earlier, making her laugh lightly. "You're one of the bravest girls I know. And tough; even guys twice your size are no match for you. Not only that, but you have a good heart. I've seen how you stand up for your family and friends."

"Francisco...do you think I'm cute?" She asked him, her eyes starting to mist up.

"No..." He answered, which caused Lynn to blink. However, before she could say anything, he followed up with "...I think you're beautiful." At that, she couldn't hold back anymore. She pulled him into the biggest hug she ever gave, tears of happiness spilling from her eyes.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dracula was seated in his library with his four wives, sipping on a glass of blood. They were discussing Vanna Pira's involvement with providing commentary during the race, just like during the Monster Road Rally. "Are you sure you vish to do this, Vanna?" The vampire lord inquired, swirling the liquid in his wine glass.

"But of course, Drac, honey. It was lots of fun doing commentary during the road race. Besides, it pays quite a bit as well. It never hurts to have a little extra money." Vanna replied cheerfully.

"Hmmm. Fair enough, I suppose." He said flatly. He knew how popular Vanna was with the tv audience before, and that would be good for the race itself. Plus it would be another expense for Cerano, so that was something else. He was about to take another sip of blood when the door to his library burst open and Luna came rushing in, nearly out of breath.

"You there! How dare you simply barge in on Lord Dracula like that!?" The blonde haired vampiress yelled indignantly at the teen rocker.

"Calm yourself. I am sure Miss Loud has a reasonably good reason for this intrusion...right, Luna?" He turned to look at her, a stern look on his face.

"Sorry….Count." She said between deep gasps of air. "But...I got a message from the Hex Girls...that you need to see…" His expression became one of interest as he beckoned her over. The brunette guitarist moved over inside the vampire's large cushioned chair and turned her phone to face him.

"Is that Mr Rotters? And a goblin vith him?"

"I think so. Here. Have a watch." She tapped her screen and the video started to play. The five vampires huddled close together as they watched the conversation between the scheming monstrous humanoid and the conniving ghoul. The more they watched, the angrier Dracula got...and yet he was smirking.

"Vell vell...seems the Hex Girls have handed me just the evidence I needed to nail that smug son of a slimesucker to the wall." Vlad said toward the end of the meeting, a vein throbbing in his head. "And all the more reason to do so. I must thank-" He was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Razortooth Thrasher in the video. "Vhat the?"

"Looks like there's more to the story…" Luna said as the clip played on, revealing the chin wag the ferocious bank president had with the cowering Cerano. This was even more interesting to the vampire lord, his smirk growing as he witnessed the thorn in his side sign the contract with Mr Thrasher. The moment the clip finally ended, Dracula just started laughing. It was soft at first, but then grew louder and borderline maniacal. This seemed to worry his brides and left Luna utterly lost.

"Oh ho ho! This is too perfect." Dracula said after his finally ceased his laughter. "Cerano Rotters has finally dug his own grave."

"My lord?" His red headed bride inquired.

"Think about it, my dears. He's basically signed a pact saying that if Zeral loses the race tomorrow, he'll be in so much debt…" Dracula explained, grinning from ear to ear. "...and have no method of recovering from it. And Mr Thrasher is vell known for being...unpleasant to those who cannot pay their debts."

"Karma's coming to bite him in the can, it seems." Luna said with a smirk of her own.

"Karma. Shark teeth. Tomato, tomahto." The now delighted vampire said with a cruel snicker. "But for that to happen, Zeral vill need to lose the race. Miss Luna, it is probably rather unnecessary for me to say this, but I need you to tell Lynn to train like she has never trained before. Mr Rotter's egotistical cousin may be too cocky to really train and will no doubt be weakened by his trip to the hospital, he is still very fast."

"You got it, Count." The hard rock gal said, giving him the thumbs up.

"Also, be sure to stress that she remain on the castle grounds more than ever now." Vlad added. "Ve don't vant to lose the element of surprise, after all." Luna nodded to the vampire father before she hurried off to go find her sister passing Kaspa at the door.

"Camilla, dear. Kindly get a video camera before the day of the race. I want to make sure the look on Cerano's face when he sees Lynn at the race, and when Mr Thrasher comes for him, is recorded for posterity." Dracula requested of his red headed bride with a toothy smirk.

* * *

Over the next few days, Lynn really pushed herself harder than she ever had before. Not only was she running around the castle grounds, but she was attempting to run while pulling more and more weight. By the evening before the race, she was able to pull both hunchbacks, Luna, Francisco and Albert behind her on a sled while still running. As busy as she was with her training, however, she still made time to spend with Kaspa (after her own exercises. She had every intention of trying to win the race too, after all), her grandfather and sister, and especially her new boyfriend, Francisco. She wasn't the only one keeping in practice, naturally. Almost every other participant in the race was during their own last minute training and preparations for the race the next day. The only one who wasn't, as Dracula predicted, as Zeral. After he had gotten out of the hospital with his brand new leg, he had hardly done any training. He jogged around the village, yes, but it was hardly pushing himself, and it was more to bask in the praises of his 'fans'. He was spending more time celebrating a victory he hadn't even achieved yet than he had working to achieve it. He had barely even broken in his new leg. However, much like his cousin Cerano, he was convinced that the only competition he had was with Lynn Loud (not that he really considered her a threat), and that she wasn't going to even be there.


	10. Chapter 10: Race Day

Race Day

Finally, the day had arrived. The day of the Monster Marathon race. Naturally, the hype and excitement about Transylvania was at an all time high. Food and souvenir vendors were getting themselves set up near the spectator stands before they even arrived, the finishing touches were being put on the starting and finish line and the decorations, and the television crew was getting their equipment ready to broadcast. Cerano smiled as he watched everything from his front upstairs balcony. Everything was coming together nicely in his mind. In a few short hours, as soon as the moon started to rise, the race would begin; the race he was certain his cousin would win. Feeling a certain amount of pride for his plan coming together, he pulled out his phone to ask his workers out on the race path how things were coming along.

* * *

Meanwhile, over at Castle Dracula, Lynn Loud was all fired up and ready to run. She was so excited, she couldn't sit still. She was running in circles around her room, Luna watching with a certain amusement. "Slow down, little sis, or you'll wear a hole in the floor."

"I can't help it, Luna." Lynn told her. "The race is so close and I just wanna run it!"

"Hehe. I know, but you don't need to walk around in circles." The chill rocker said as she stood up and put out a hand to stop the over excited werewolf in her tracks. "Won't help you to tire yourself out before the marathon."

"Yeah..I guess." Lynn said with a sigh.

"Come on, Lynn. Dinner should be ready soon." The older of the two Louds said, patting her on the shoulder. The two of them emerge from their room, Francisco stepped out from the room next door. The werewolf girl smiled at him as she put her arm around his waist, the teen boy wrapping his own arm around her middle.

"Ready to rumble, Lynnsanity?"

"Always, handsome." She replied, and she looked it, with an incredibly confident grin on her face. Luna quietly smiled at the two of them as they all walked through the halls, headed for the dining room. However, at one point, Lynn stopped in place, her ears perked up.

"Hmm? What's up, sis?" Luna asked, stopping a few steps ahead of them after she noticed Lynn had stopped. The Loud lycan was silently listening for a moment before a broad smile appeared on her face, the athletic teen running off in a blur. The musically inclined Loud and Francisco looked confusedly at one another before they tried to follow her.

* * *

Out in the entry hall, it was much more crowded than usual; crowded with three adults and eight children. One of those adults was Dracula's raven haired bride, welcoming their new guests with a big, fanged smile. The other two were Rita and Lynn Sr, who looked very uneasy as they gazed around at the interior of the gothic castle, just like most of the children around them. This place was much creepier than Miss Grimwood's, and while it made most of the Loud kids pretty nervous, Lucy looked right at home in the castle of the most powerful vampire of all. "Castle Dracula...it's like a dream…" She said with a sigh.

"More like a nightmare…" Lynn Sr whimpered softly. His wife frowned at him, but the dark haired vampiress smiled when she heard this.

"Why, thank you. We do try." She told them, surprising them. "Count Dracula is awaiting you in the dining hall...but lest my ears deceive me, I think someone else will be seeing you first." The Louds all looked at one another, very confused. However, everything made sense a few seconds later when the were-Lynn sped right into the entrance from the upper level. Upon spotting them, she beamed at her family and leaped over the side, headed right for them.

"Mom! Dad! Sibs!" She cried out, nearly crying happy tears, falling right into her mother and father's arms.

"Lynn!" They all cried in response, a Loud family group hug commencing.

"Are you alright, sis?" Luan asked as she embraced her werewolf sibling.

"You're so fluffy." Lana commented with a giggle.

"My poor baby…" Rita cried, holding the little athlete tightly.

"Mom...it's ok. I'm fine. In fact, I'm great. A little extra hairy, but great." Lynn told her, nearly getting crushed in the massive group hug. Once they (eventually) seperated, the Loud werewolf elaborated. "I mean, I'm stronger and faster than I used to be. Watch." She crouched down and, without even a running start, sprang clear up to the second floor landing, her feet planting right on the railing. "Tah dah!" Her sisters were all amazed, giving her a round of applause. Lynn Sr gave her a few shaky claps as well, but Rita was too shaken and upset for celebration of any kind. Lynn hopped back down to ground floor just as Luna and Francisco ran out onto the upper landing to see what was going on. Her face lit up almost as much as Lynn's as she quickly slid down the stair railings. She embraced her parents and sisters while Francisco slowly followed her down.

"Man, I missed you guys!" Luna declared.

"We missed you too, Luna." Luan admitted. "It's just not the LOUD house without you."

"I am sure you have a lot to discuss." The vampiress interrupted gently. "But my husband and Mr Albert are awaiting you all in the dining room, and Lord Dracula does not appreciate being kept waiting." Not wishing to argue with a vampire, particularly in her own home, the Louds and Francisco follow her as she gestures them to do so.

* * *

After a filling (albeit odd) meal, the Louds, Albert, Francisco, Dracula and his brides remained in the dining hall, discussing what had been going on over drinks and dessert; mostly juice, coffee and blood. Rita and Lynn Sr both looked horrified when they heard about Mr Rotter's attempts to sabotage their daughter. "That horrible man…" The Loud father grumbled. "It isn't enough he turned our child into a werewolf, now he's trying to openly hurt her!"

"Indeed. The trouble is he had gotten desperate." Dracula said with a bit of a scowl. "He needs his cousin to win if he wants to save his own skin."

"Cousin? Pardon my interjection, Count…" Lisa said with a frown. "...but can Mr Rotters really allow a member of his family to participate in a competition in which he is in an administrative position?"

"I am afraid so, Lisa. As he made the rules pertaining to the race, he could make that decision." The Count replied with a certain amount of scorn. "Not only that, if he modeled the rules after the original Monster Road Rally, I suspect it will be an anything goes affair…" This did little to help the worries of her family. "However, one thing ve have in our advantage is that he thinks he succeeded in taking Lynn out of the race. He von't have had time to prepare anything, so anything he or Zeral would try would be sloppy. Still, I don't plan to take any chances."

"Neither will we." Albert declared, rising from his seat.

"Right you are, Pop Pop." Luna agreed with a firm nod as she drank from her tea cup. "We're gonna watch and support Lynn on the field."

"Not a bad idea, Luna…" Rita replied, though really, she didn't much like the idea of putting more of her children and her father in danger. "But are you going to keep up with all the racers?"

"We'll think of something, Mrs Loud." Francisco answered, a little shaky, but determined.

"In addition, they vill not be alone." The vampire lord added. "Lincoln's friends, the Boo Brothers, will be keeping a close eye on her as vell, along vith the Hunch Bunch…"

"THE HUNCH BUNCH!?" Rita and Lynn Sr screamed in shock and outrage.

"Whoa! Chill out, Mom and Pop." Luna jumped in, trying to ease her parents. "They're working for Drac now, not that corpse jerk."

"Luna is quite right, Mr and Mrs Loud." Dracula calmly said, not the least bit perturbed by their outburst. "And they vill ensure her safety during the race, as they had before it...if they know vhat's good for them." The Loud parents were far from reassured, still looking at the vampire like he had lost his mind.

"Mom...Dad…" Lori spoke up, putting a hand on her mother's shoulder. "Count Dracula knows much more about the situation than we do, and knows what he's doing. If he says it'll be ok, it'll be ok."

"Thank you, Lori." The vampire said with an appreciative smile to the oldest Loud sister. "Do not fear, sir, ma'am. If need be, I will personally get involved to protect your daughter." Upon saying that, Dracula looked at the Loud family, realizing someone was missing. "By the vay, vhere is Lincoln?"

"Yeah..I was wondering that too." Lynn inquired.

"He said he would meet us there, after his last class at school." Lucy answered in her usual monotone.

"Oh yeah...they hold science classes at night." The fur bearing Loud commented, somewhat quietly. "Guess it puts them in the mad scientist mood."

"Good. Good. Vell, no sense sitting around for too much longer." The vampire lord said as he rose from his seat. "Ve should be heading for the starting line. Ladies, I vill meet you there." His four wives nodded before they all vanished into wisps of smoke.

"Oh...how are we going to get there?" Rita asked as she suddenly realized they didn't have any form of transport to get to the finish line. Before anyone could throw any ideas out there, they heard a loud horn blaring outside. Curious, Dracula strode over to the window for a look.

"Vell now." He said with a slight smile. "It's the Hex Girls. I vonder vhat they vant." Lynn Sr and Rita both looked confused, but Luna and Lucy both lit up (or as much as Lucy could light up), with the former rushing her way to the front door to see them. Meanwhile, Vlad turned himself into fog and wafted his way outside and down to the grounds in front of the tour bus. "Good evening, ladies."

"Evening, Count." Thorne replied, leaning out of the door to the bus. "Lynn and Little Lu haven't left yet, have they?"

"Not yet, no. In fact, Luna Loud should be arriving right about...now." He looked toward the front door as it swung wide open, Luna surging out.

"Hey Hex Girls!" She called out, waving to the trio.

"Hey Little Lu!" The scarlet haired musician of the same name replied, smiling at the young rock and roller.

"Are you lot sticking around for the race after all?"

"Yeah. We figured, since the bus took this long to get repaired, we could stick around for the race." Thorne said with a smile, before her face turning a bit more serious. "Besides, with that ghoul guy threatening your sis, we thought it couldn't hurt to have a few extra eyes out."

"You gals read our minds. My family and I were just discussing watching over Lynn during the marathon." Luna Loud said. "If you're up to helping, that'd be really cool."

"Gladly." Thorne told her. "By the way...who's that?" She suddenly asked, pointing behind her. The musically inclined sister blinked and turned around, startled by the smiling Lucy standing behind her.

"Gah!...oh. That's one of my younger sisters, Lucy." Luna Loud replied once she regained her composure. "Lucy, Thorne, Dusk and Luna."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Lucy said in a more happy deadpan than usual, shaking Thorne's hand. It was around this time that the rest of the family was starting to return to the entry hall. Although she had been told prior about how big the Loud family was, she was still not prepared to actually see them in person. Her mouth just kind of hung open for a few seconds when she first saw them, but she quickly recovered and flashed a friendly smile.

"And you must be the rest of the family." The raven haired band leader commented.

"Er...yes. I'm their mother, Rita Loud, and this is my husband, Lynn Sr." The Loud mother said as each of the Hex Girls shook their hands and Lynn Sr were introducing each of their children. "Might I...uh...ask your names, ladies?"

"Certainly, Mrs Loud. I'm Thorne, and these are my bandmates, Luna and Dusk. We're the Hex Girls."

"They're one of the greatest bands out there, Mom, Dad." Luna explained. "And they were the ones who gave us evidence of Mr Rotters trying to sabotage Lynn."

"Heh. Well, honestly, it was kinda luck that we ran into the goblin who messed with her." Dusk said with a chuckle and shrug.

"Luck or no, your help vas invaluable." Dracula told them with a small smile. "Once this race is over, your evidence, as vell as evidence and testimony from others involved, vill see Mr Rotters pay for his crimes. All of them."

"Glad to help, Count...and speaking of help, do you folks need a lift?" Thorne inquired, looking to the Louds and Francisco.

"Thank you, Thorne, but...can your bus hold us all?" Rita asked in concern.

"It'll be a little tight…" The scarlet haired Luna said, looking between the group and the vehicle. "But all should work nicely."

"You ladies mind if we bum a ride too?" Freako asked from behind the Louds, startling them all.

"Wha!? Who are you!?" A startled Lori inquired. Lucy looked back at them and smiled.

"You must be the Boo Brothers." The little goth said to them.

"You got that right, little lady." Shrieko replied with a grin.

"You know them, Lucy?" Rita asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Lincoln told me about them after he asked them to keep an eye on Lynn."

"Lincoln knows them?"

"It's ok, Mom. They're cool." Lynn Jr interjected, trying to calm her family. "And hilarious."

"We're friends of Shaggy's, ma'am." Freako explained, slowly approaching the Loud parents. "He recommended us to your son after he heard what happened to your daughter. And after hearing the full story, we offered to help keep Lynn safe, before and during the race."

"And they've been a big help." The werewolf girl told her folks.

"In which case, we owe you...gentlemen...our thanks." The Loud patriarch said, still pretty nervous about the ghosts.

"No thanks necessary, sir." Meeko piped up, waving it off.

"And with that outta the way, allow us to introduce ourselves. I'm Freako, and these are my brothers, Shrieko and Meeko."

"Pleased ta meetcha, Louds." The pilot cap wearing ghost said to them.

"Well, if you fellas don't mind riding on the roof, I think we could fit you in." Dusk commented, in response to Freako's earlier inquiry.

"That's fine with us. We're ghosts already." The doughy spirit in the pink cap replied.

"And the fresh air'll do us good." Shrieko added.

"Since yer both airheads." Freako muttered, getting a laugh out of Luan and Lily.

"Are...the Hunch Bunch coming along too?" Rita inquired warily.

"No. They vill taking a different path. The less Cerano knows of their involvement, the better for the moment." Vlad reassured her. "And before you ask, I plan to teleport there myself, so I vill see you all there." He swished his cape around himself before he vanished in a puff of smoke. As soon as the Count was gone, the Hex Girls started to get the Loud family and Francisco onto the bus, with the Boo Brothers checking the bus out first, just in case.

"Hey. What's this?" Shrieko asked, picking up a large jar. Inside was the gremlin from earlier, with a little bed, reading light, and a handful of crackers almost as big as he was. The little saboteur was currently fast asleep.

"Huh? That was still here? I thought Horatio called Demon Control…" Thorne asked with a frown.

"...and I bet he thought we did the same." The older Luna reasoned with a chuckle.

"Can I keep him?" Shrieko asked, looking and sounding like a kid asking for a puppy. "Pleeeease Freako!" The burly built leader ghost sighed and was about to tell him off, but the taller of the brothers kept talking. "I'll feed him, water him, take him for walks, give him a nice home in Billy Bob Scroggins' truck…" Freako paused before he could start his chew out.

"You know...I think THAT is an idea I can get behind." He said with a mischievous smirk.

"Well, if you want the gremlin, sure...but don't let him out in the bus." Dusk warned them. "He did enough damage the first time."

"Check!" The goofy ghost said, putting the jar into an nonexistent pocket before the trio floated up to the roof, clinging onto it. After a few minutes, the Louds were all loaded onto the bus, with Lynn Sr and Rita carrying Lily toward the front and Lynn and Francisco sitting together toward the back.

"All set everyone? Here we go." The red headed Luna smiled as she pressed down on the gas and drove off, out of the gates of Castle Dracula.

* * *

With the race mere minutes away, Cerano was going all over the place making sure everything was perfect for the race. Tv cameras? In place all over strategic points on the track. VIPS? Mr Thrasher, Vlad's brides and the mayor of the town were already in the VIP box, and he knew Dracula would no doubt arrive soon enough. Vendors? All set up. Racers? Nearly all of them, including his cousin, were stretching and awaiting the start of the race. Paying spectators? Filling the stands rapidly. The well to do ghoul was more than pleased with himself with how this all turned out, feeling quite relaxed. He was about to head to the VIP box himself when he noticed a bright, shining sphere forming by the stands meant for the family of marathon participants. He raised an eyebrow as he observed this phenomenon for a moment before, in a bright flash, Lincoln Loud appeared from seemingly nowhere, along with Shaggy, Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo. The moment they all arrived, the one son nearly collapsed, the older great dane catching him before he could fall. "Thanks Scooby...I was NOT prepared for how much that took out of me…"

"Like, you ok, Linc?"

"Yeah...I'll be fine. Thanks, Shaggy."

"Can I help you four…?" Cerano asked in an almost snobbish manner.

"Take it easy, pal. We have tickets." Shaggy replied defensively, showing his and his canine friend's tickets to the villainous wight. His demeanor changed in almost an instant.

"Ah. So you do. Right this way, gentlemen." He said with a smile, gesturing to the stands to the left of the VIP stands. "And you, young man?"

"My parents have my ticket." Lincoln told him while he recovered. "We're here to watch my sister run in the race. The name's Lincoln Loud…" He added toward the end with a somewhat angry look at the ghoul; a look that didn't go unnoticed, but was promptly ignored.

"I see. Miss Loud. I strongly suspect you may all be bitterly disappointed then…" He said with a half smirk, almost in passing.

"...why is that?" The white haired boy asked, clearly suspicious. He didn't get an answer, as at that moment, Dracula had just appeared in the stands, right where his seat was located.

"Vlad! Glad you could make it." Mr Rotters exclaimed, making a big show of pretending to be nice to the vampire lord. "And you brought the lovely little ladies too." He looked at each of the wives of Dracula in turn, taking brief notice of the video camera in Camilla's hand, before he looked at Vanna. "Are you ready to commentate the race, Vanna?"

"You know it, Mr Rotters." She answered in her usual, bubbly way. Dracula didn't even dignify the ghoul with a response, instead moving over to Lincoln and his friends.

"Ah. Hello again, Lincoln." He said, shaking the white haired lad's hand. "And you as well, Mr Rogers, Scooby and Scrappy."

"Hello, Count." Lincoln answered as his strength slowly, but surely, returned.

"Like, it's been a long time, Drac." Shaggy replied politely, shaking hands with the green skinned nosferatu.

"Indeed it has." Vlad responded. "But ve can catch up later. Lincoln, you vill be pleased to know your family is on the vay here." The middle Loud glanced toward Cerano, who was leering at Dracula's back, and smirked a little.

"The whole family?" He asked, just loud enough for the ghoul to hear. The vampire lord grinned in return as he nodded.

"Yes. All of them." Dracula answered, purposely letting Cerano hear them.

'Wonder what they're blathering on about?' He wondered. He got his answer in a moment as the Hex Girls' bus pulled up behind the stands. The eyes of the race mastermind, the one son, Shaggy and the Doos and the Count moved to the bus as the Loud Clan started to pile out of the van, though it was difficult to see how many were there with the bleachers in the way. A fact Lynn planned to take advantage of.

"Don't let the big man know I'm here." She whispered to her sisters. "I wanna surprise him in my own way."

"Ooooo. Sneaky. I approve." Luan replied with a giggle, giving the werewolf girl the thumbs up. The Were Lynn returned the gesture before she crept off in the other direction. Lynn Sr and Rita took the lead, the former carrying Lily in their arms, the three of them turned the corner around the stands and into view of the group.

"Hello there." Cerano said in an over the top greeting, approaching them. "You must be Mr and Mrs Lo-" His greeting was cut off by a slap to the face from Lynn's mother.

"How DARE you force my daughter to become a werewolf!" She yelled. If they hadn't already gotten the attention of everyone present with their arrive, they had now.

"Rita…"

"Do not Rita me, Lynn…" She growled. "I've been waiting do that for a long time…"

"I know...and I was just going to ask you to hold Lily a moment…" He continued, glaring at the ghoul as he rubbed his cheek and holding the baby to his wife.

"I vould save your strength, Mr Loud. He is not vorth it." Dracula interjected, stepping toward them. He then muttered to them. "Trust me. He vill get so much vorse at the end of this race." He gave them a big grin and a wink, which brought a smile to their faces. A smile that grew as Lincoln ran over and gave them both a hug.

"Mom! Dad!"

"Hey there, Lincoln!" Lynn Sr replied, he and his wife returning the embrace and Lily getting in on the act as well. "Glad to see you got here alright."

"Yeah. Managed to teleport myself, Mr Rogers, Scooby and Scrappy here all the way from Miss Grimwood's by myself."

"Wasn't that kinda pushing it bro?" Lori asked as she stepped in beside her mother.

"Kinda…" He admitted, chuckling and rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh, Lincoln. You can be as bad as Lynn sometimes, the way you push yourself magically." Leni said, giggling a little as she moved over to her brother, ruffling his hair. Cerano blinked as more and more of the Loud children came into sight. By the time Luna and Albert joined the group last, his jaw hit the ground...literally. His jaw actually came undone and fell to the ground. After hastily putting it back into place, he asked;

"T...t...This is the whole family…?"

"Yes sir. It is." Lisa told him, plainly amused by his expression. "Two parents, eleven children, and our dear Pop Pop."

'...good thing Lynn won't be racing…' The undead man thought in relief. '...if I had to pay for THAT family to go to the Bermuda Triangle, I'd be ruined…' He looked back up toward Mr Thrasher, who was giving him a VERY dirty look, mouthing the word 'force!?' at him. "...if I'm not already…'

"I dunno about the rest of you, but I'm looking forward to the race!" Lana said excitedly, rubbing her hands together.

"We better get to our seats then." Rita commented, looking at the seating reserved for family members of the participants. "...I don't think that would be large enough…"

"I got it covered." Lincoln told them with a grin. He cracked his knuckles and, with a look of intense concentration, swiped his hands to the right. With that move, the stands expanded significantly, effectively creating more room to sit. "Sibella taught me that one."

"Thank you, Lincoln, but you really shouldn't be doing more magic after stressing yourself so much already." Rita said out of concern for her son.

"Alright, Mom. No more magic out of me." He told her, holding up his hand as if he were taking an oath. She seemed satisfied with that, and started directing her children up to the top seats.

"Q...quite the family." Cerano commented to no one in particular.

"Indeed, Cerano." Dracula replied, stepping over to the ghoul. "A very close family too."

"It's such a shame that they won't be able to see their daughter and sister race…" The ghoul said with a fake sigh. The vampire father turned his head slightly with a slight smirk and a raise of an eyebrow. "I have heard a rumor that she isn't planning on coming to the race...I don't want to believe it, but she's not here, is she?" He looked toward the massive of monster runners, who had finished their stretches and were pretty much just shooting the breeze at this point. "And with five minutes before the race is due to start, I don't think-"

"AAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Mr Rotters froze mid sentence, his pupils dilating as he turned his head in the direction of the howl. With a mighty leap, Lynn Loud lept over the back of the stands and landed like a superhero right onto the track, grinning at Cerano with a spark in her eyes. Once more, the ghoul's mouth hung open, the Count smirking even more.

"Yes, Cerano. We know you don't." He said, patting the dead man on the shoulder and snickering before he went to join Mr Thrasher and his brides. "Camilla…"

"I got every second of it." She told him, barely suppressing her laughter, unlike the Loud children not far away.

"Lynn! You made it!" Kaspa exclaimed, giving the werewolf girl a high five as soon as she dashed over.

"Didn't really plan to cut it so close, but I wanted to give that jerk a good fright."

"I think you gave him a heart attack." Talking Tina commented as she added a little oil to her limb joints.

"Gotta have a heart to have an attack." Lynn said, leering at the shellshocked ghoul.

"You should have just stayed away, fuzzy wuzzy." Zeral said snidely at the sporty lycan, sneering at her.

"And you should keep your trap shut, crazy legs." The two growl at each other, getting ready to attack one another. However, before things could come to blow, Vanna spoke up from a podium in front of the VIP seats.

"Good evening friends, race fans, racers and honored guests from all over the world. Welcome to the first (hopefully) annual Monster Marathon foot race, here in beautiful Transylvania." The sound of her voice also snapped Cerano out of his stunned state, and gave Luna, Francisco and Albert the hint they should go. They bid a momentary farewell to the Louds and quietly hurried to the Hex Girls bus so they could head out ahead of the track to keep a lookout. "In a few short minutes, this momentous race will begin. But first, a few words from the ghoul who made this all possible. Boils and ghouls, put your hands together for Mr Cerano ROTTERS!" Cerano took a moment to regain his composure as he walked over to the mic. There was a smattering of polite applause from local residents, and a lot of glares from the Louds and Kaspa.

"Thank you, Vanna. I am just brimming with pride to see so many eager young athletes here, ready to prove their physical mettle in this grueling race: not just from dear ol' Transylvania, but all over the world. Not matter the outcome of the race, in my book, you're all winners." Lynn Jr rolled her eyes, taking all of her restraint to hold her tongue. "Before we send you on your way, every participant of the Monster Marathon will be given a map of the course, in the off chance that that a runner ends up going off course." One of the ghostly servants of Mr Rotters handed the werewolf girl, who opened it up to review it as her competitors were given their maps. This was the first time she had seen this track, but she didn't think it looked so bad. A little long, but nothing she couldn't handle. "Racers, take your places and may the best monster win." He pulled a starting pistol from his coat pocket and presented it to Vanna. "Would you like to do the honors, Madam?"

"Of course." She replied, taking the starter in hand with a big smile. "Racers, on your mark!" The crowd of monster teens and kids set themselves up right behind the starting line, with Lynn Jr and Zeral standing right next to each other, glaring daggers to one another. "Get set!" She pointed the pistol upward, covering one ear with her free hand. While she and Cerano were distracted, Dracula saw an opportunity and decided to take it. He gently guided his most cheerful bride's arm down so the pistol was pointed right at the ghoul's head. "GO!" She shouted, firing the pistol. When the thin smoke cleared, Cerano's face was all covered in soot and he had a surprised look on his face before he glared at Vanna, who smiled sheepishly in return. The very second the gun went off, Lynn Jr and Zeral were off in blurs of speed, leaving most of the other competitors in their dust.


	11. Chapter 11

_AN: Good day all. Sorry it took so long to get this part up. Been kinda busy as of late. I'm still working on my other stories, though I'm trying to focus on getting the next chapter of Tales from Grimwood up. Currently writing up two different chapters (as it doesn't really matter which one goes up first. No real timeline until the major plot comes into play), but just having trouble coming up with what's next. I am working on it, in bits and pieces, but it may be slow progress.. On a side note, if you are reading this story Ironchef, I do like the Lily ending up in Grimwood idea and will see what I can do a little later on with that. Thank you. And to answer guest's question about which of Dracula's brides is Sibella's mother...I have no idea. Never even considered it. May come up with an answer later on if need be, though._

* * *

The race part 1

"...And they're off!" Vanna called out as soon as she returned her attention to the pack leaving the area. "Zeral Rotters and Lynn Loud have taken an early lead, running neck and neck, with Bolten Jr a somewhat distant third, followed by the adorable witch twins, and Kaspa. And trailing the pack is Forrester…" She looked toward the jogging ghost, who was the last to leave their sight, jogging at a leisurely pace. "...taking it nice and easy." Back at the front of the racers, the WereLynn and the four legged ghoul were running almost full tilt across the pavement. The sporty Loud couldn't help but notice that Zeral wasn't moving quite as fast as he was last time they raced, and his movements were somewhat wobbly.

'Looks like someone got lazy these last few days…' She thought to herself, chuckling quietly. Cerano's cousin leered over at the werewolf beside him, before he smirked sinisterly. He kicked out with one of his four legs and hit Lynn's leg. Not only did the impact hurt, but it knocked her off her feet and flat on her side on the ground. The moment she hit the pavement, Zeral sped off down the road.

* * *

"That was deliberate!" Lori shouted with outrage, gesturing at what they had just witnessed on the view screen in front of the stands.

"Outright cheating!" Lincoln accused angrily.

"Mr Rotters, surely you don't intend to let such a flagrant disregard for the rules slide, do you?" Lisa inquired with a frown directed at the ghoul in question.

"Disregard for the rules? Whatever do you mean? Nothing happened that was against the rules." He responded in a false innocent tone.

"Are you blind!?" Lynn Sr snapped, pointing toward the screen. "He just blatently tripped her!"

"And there's nothing against it in the rules." He reiterated, gently tossing a copy of the rulebook over onto his lap. "See for yourself." Lisa took the book from her father's lap and started to flip through it. To some, it would appear she was skimming the text, but she was actually speed reading it.

"Curse him, he's right…" She said sourly, zipping through the book again a second time just to make sure. "In fact, there don't appear to be very many rules at all…"

"It's like I told you…" Dracula spoke up in a serious tone. "...practically anything goes."

* * *

As Lynn was trying to get back up, the rest of the pack not only caught up with her, but stampeded past her. The WereLynn's eyes narrowed as she was being passed by the jogging phantom. "So, that's how you want to play, huh?" She growled before she sprang to her feet and sprinted off after the other racers. A few seconds later, she ran backwards to where Forrester was still taking his time. "Uh...not to tell you how to run the race, but...shouldn't you be actually racing?"

"Thanks for the concern." The spirit replied with a lazy sort of smile. "But I take things at my own pace. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

"...well, whatever floats your ghost ship. See ya!" She said before she bolted back down the road.

"So long." He replied with a wave. "Such a nice werewolf…" With a second or two, the werewolf girl had caught up with the other racers, the competitive fire within her burning hotter than ever.

" _You thought you took me down, so it seems._

 _Think you can cheat to win? In your dreams!"_

Toward the back of the pack was a huge ogre boy, almost three times her size and easily seven times her weight. He glared back at her as she approached and attempted to block her passage. Whenever she tried to pass, he would move over or swing his tree trunk sized arms at her. Seeing how she wasn't going to go around him, she took the only other path of least resistance. With a mighty leap, she jumped right on top of his head, and propelled herself off his forehead, zipping past three other competitors.

" _What you did was really dumb._

 _You barely even slowed me down! Here I come!_

 _The name's Lynn Loud and I'm here to win!_

 _To take any less than first would be a sin!_

 _This race was over before it could begin!_

 _The name's Lynn Loud and I'm here to win!"_

Nostufaro could hear the werewolf girl approaching from behind, baring his fangs in anger. He had no desire to let her pass, and he had a plan to stop her. He grabbed the two faced goblin who was slightly behind him and hurled him right at her. Without missing a beat, Lynn caught the mutant goblinoid and, with a big old 'take that' grin, zoomed right past the pompous vampire. This put not just her, but Nostufaro's projectile, ahead of him, which REALLY made him angry.

"Thanks, Lynn." The polite side said, before quickly turning to the rude side. "Yeah, thanks...SUCKER!" He kicked her in the face before jumping from her arms to resume the race. However, not only did his tactic fail to stop her, but with how fast she was moving while carrying him, he ended up stumbling from the attempt to match the speed and fell flat on his rude face. "You see...this is what happens when you're a jerk…" The polite side scolded his meaner other half.

" _Thought you could go and break my will,_

 _but here I am; I'll beat you still!_

 _Think playing dirty will get you first?_

 _Go ahead, and do your worst._

 _No matter what, I will fight._

 _You will find me full of bite._

 _To kick your butt is to what I'll strive._

 _No more games! OVERDRIVE!"_

With that, the werewolf girl ran like the very wind, becoming a mere blur to the runners once ahead of her.

" _The name's Lynn Loud and I'm here to win!_

 _To take any less than first would be a sin!_

 _This race was over before it could begin!_

 _The name's Lynn Loud and I'm here to win!"_

* * *

"Man...these guys are vicious…" Lana commented, sounding a little worried.

"Yeah...I thought the pageant circuit was cut throat…" Lola agreed.

"They are monsters, after all." The vampire lord told them. "Monsters vith competitive spirits, and little to no rules to restrict them."

"Maybe so...but Lynn's tough." Lincoln piped up, punching his left fist into his right hand. "She can take whatever they throw at her!"

"You said it, Lincoln! Go get 'em, Lynn!" Lori cheered. Meanwhile, Cerano felt a tap on his shoulder in the VIP box. After a quick glance around to make sure no one was looking at him, he leaned back in his seat to see who was trying to get his attention. It was the goblin who had attempted to sabotage Lynn, clinging to the back of the stands and grinning.

"Guten tag, Mr Rotters. Fine day for a race, ja?" He whispered in a low voice. "Now...about my payment…" The ghoul glared daggers at the little pest, grabbing him by the top of the head and lifting him just enough for his eyes to see the screen currently broadcasting several moments of the race at once; particularly Lynn quickly catching up with the four legged ghoul. The goblin looked astonished at what he saw. "But...but I broke her...I know I did…"

"Well, break her again…" The well to do ghoul muttered furiously, dropping the goblin back behind the stands. 'I am surrounded by incompetence…' He ranted in his own mind. Listening from a nearby dark alley, Zervan couldn't help but smirk. The way he saw it, he still had a chance to make some big bucks, what with Lynn still in the race. He turned his head toward the Loud family at the top of the bleachers, thinking,

'And I know JUST how to stop her…'

* * *

After the race had started, The Hex Girls drove off in their bus with Luna, Albert and Francisco, with the Boo Brothers splitting up with them to search further on the course. "Freako, do you hear me?" The third eldest of the Loud sisters asked, speaking into her cell phone.

"Loud and clear, Luna." The leader of the Boo Brothers replied. "My brothers and I will haunt around near the finish line, make sure it's clear."

"Mr Brunch, do you copy?" Francisco inquired with his own phone.

"I do indeed copy, young man. Crunch and I are patrolling near Moray Bay and Castle Dracula."

"Good. We'll keep just ahead of the race and watch out for immediate threats." Luna Loud said with an approving nod. "Keep us posted."

"Roger that." Freako and Brunch responded together before hanging up.

"Sounds like we have most of the track covered." Thorne said with a bit of a smirk as she drove.

"Now all we need to do is call Lynn when there's trouble in her path. Just hope she got that bluetooth set up…"

Back on the track, the WereLynn of Royal Woods tapped the little device hidden inside her ear. "Call Luna Loud." She instructed as she sped along the track, Zeral coming into view in the distance. After a few seconds, she heard her sister's voice respond:

"Talk to me."

"Hey Luna. Looks like it's working just fine." She responded between breaths as she started to gain on the ghoul.

"Sweet. We're just up ahead at the moment. Nothing wicked this way comes so far."

"Thanks, sis. Talk to you later." Lynn replied as she hung up. She continued to surge forward, only about forty yards from the crazy legged undead punk as they approached the first location on the track: BackBite Farms. As they approached the corn fields indicating the start of the farms, Zeral actually changed course, starting to go around the fields. "What the…? Luna, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Sure am, sis. The creep is going AROUND the farm…"

"What's he thinking? It'll take him longer to go around it." Lynn commented with a frown. "Think he knows something we don't?"

"I'd be willing to bet on it." Francisco interjected, scanning the fields with a pair of binoculars. "Be careful, Lynn…"

"Don't worry about me, Franc." The werewolf girl replied with all confidence. "I'll be fine." She ended the call as she passed through the open gate and onto the path flanked by fields of golden corn. She had to admit that, at first, it was nice, relaxing scenery. This thought was quickly dispelled by the sharp, stinging pain in her rump. She jumped and yelped, holding her backside as she looked back to see who was responsible for that stunt. The ears of corn were launching their hard kernels at him, pelting her tail, face and back with tiny corn pellets. "Ow! Ow! Ow! What's all this!?"

"Just how the produce acts before it gets just ripe enough…" A hunchbacked skeleton with a little gray goatee replied, wearing what looked like police riot gear as he tended the field. "...right now, the corns' just a little too fresh."

"You're telling me!" Lynn snapped as she got a fresh volley of pellets to the rear. Growling in anger, she decided to get clear of the vegetable assault, so she picked up the pace, running a bit too fast for the ballistic kernels to hit her.

* * *

"...am I seeing what I think I am?" Lori asked with a perplexed look.

"If you are referring to zea mays capable of propelling its kernels with a velocity of a peashooter machine gun, then your eyes are not deceiving you." Lisa informed her.

"Wow. Now that's what I call 'popping corn'." Luan joked, laughing a little to herself. "It's truly a-maise-ing." Most of her siblings just sighed at this, Lana turning her head away from the family joker so she wouldn't see her roll her eyes. It was then she caught sight of Mr Thrasher, who was a few seats down in the VIP box, a somewhat sour look on his face. Her mouth hung open as she just stared at this giant (to her) shark man. Razortooth didn't notice at first, but after a couple seconds, he turned his head as if he could feel her gaze.

"Can I help you, young lady?" He asked, in a calm, polite tone.

"Oh. Sorry, sir...I just...never seen a shark in real life before." Lana told him. "...much less one so big. So awesome…" The shark banker just chuckled a bit to her before Rita turned and saw what was going on. She nearly jumped out of her seat as she pulled the six year old handywoman closer to her.

"L...Lana! You shouldn't bother the...uh...nice man." She said with a trembling voice.

"Oh, no need to worry, ma'am." Mr Thrasher said, giving her a small smile. "She isn't bothering me. She's just being curious, I'm sure."

"Oh...thank you for understanding, Mr…?"

"Thrasher. Razortooth Thrasher, CEO of the Bank of Transylvania." Hearing that caused Luan's pun reflex to go off and, before anyone could stop her;

"I guess that makes you a 'loan shark' then." She spat out with a laugh. Everyone in her family (except Lucy, who was watching the race, and Lily, who wasn't paying attention) just froze in place, thinking a line had been crossed. However, to their shock, Mr Thrasher just laughed.

"Hahaha. Yes, I suppose I am." He said, before turning to Rita again. "Quite the family you have here, ma'am."

"T...Thank you. I'm Rita Loud, by the way…" She introduced herself, then her husband and all of their children present.

"Hmmm. Quite a family indeed. You know, I'm a family man myself." He reached into his inner jacket pocket and, from his well packed wallet, he drew a wallet sized picture of himself, his humanoid shark wife, and a little baby shark in his arms underwater. "This is my wife, Bladefin, and our little baby boy, Chomper." The Louds all gather closer together for a look.

"Awwwww. Lookit the little baby sharky!" Lola cooed, her eyes getting big and sparkly. "Sooo cute!"

"You totes make a lovely couple." Leni commented, smiling as she looked at the picture.

"Heh. Thanks." The bank CEO said as he put the picture away. "So, your daughter is running the race, am I right?" Rita and Lynn Sr both nod in reply, the shark man's face falling. "...as the financial backer of this race, I wish to offer you my apologies for what happened."

"Financial backer?" Lincoln inquired, a light frown on his face.

"Yes. I gave Mr Rotters the loan to start the race. I believed it was a grand opportunity for Transylvania...but had I known what he was willing to do just to have all the original monsters present…"

"Do not fret over it, sir." Lisa spoke up. "I don't think anyone could have predicted what would have resulted from this whole escapade…"

"I did." Lucy said, sounding somewhat offended.

"...anyone, with one possible exception."

"Thank you."

* * *

Back at the farm, the rest of the racers were just entering the cornfields as Lynn was moving to the next patch of land. While most just tanked the corn assault, some had their own methods of passing unhindered. Kaspa laid low, slithering quickly as close to the ground as possible. The witch twins had magic barriers around themselves and were safely running through, with Bolten Jr dashing along between them. Talking Tina was so short in comparison, she simply didn't need to worry. And Nostufaro simply changed himself into a bat and flew over the corn field obstacle.

* * *

"That's can't be legal!" Lincoln objected angrily as he saw that unfold.

"Unfortunately, elder brother, it is." Lisa told him, though she sounded very annoyed to say it. "The rules stipulate that flight utilizing one's own muscles is permitted. Assisted flight, such as via magic or vehicles, are forbidden."

"Dang it…"

* * *

Lynn continues to surge forward, passing between two patches of tomatoes while glaring toward Zeral outside the farmland. So focused was she on the cocky ghoul that she didn't notice a vine stretching out across the path. As soon as her foot got close to it, it struck like a snake, coiling around her ankle. The werewolf Loud falls forward as the tomato vine starts wrapping around both her ankles. She growls and takes a swipe at the vine, tearing a chunk off of it. While she was busy freeing herself, the other marathon participants were catching up, and other plant tendrils were creeping toward the sporty Loud. She managed to tear another piece of the vine holding her legs before one of her wrists gets restrained. However, she had weakened the vine just enough for her to break free. She was just about to slash her arm free, but she was saved that effort when Kaspa's tail slammed down on the vine, breaking it with ease. "Thanks."

"Anytime." The gorgon teen said with a smile, helping her up just as the reanimated young man ran past them, letting the fact the tomato plants were focused on others work to his advantage, and Nostufaro flew past them all. The others, particularly the living doll, were having trouble against the ambulatory vines, slowing their progress. They didn't seem to be in danger either, so the two friends continued on, watching each other's backs as they passed the tomato patch. The next obstacle they had to face were squash and zucchini, which flung themselves at the racers like living flails. These posed little threat to Lynn and Kaspa, as the former was more agile than ever as a werewolf, and Kaspa could slither under them, just like with the corn fields. The final challenge of the farm was the pumpkin patch. The pumpkins grown here were massive, some almost half Lynn's size.

"Whoa...just imagine the pies you could make from these pumpkins." Lynn commented as she looked around at all the gourd like vegetables.

"Not to mention impressive jack o lanterns." Kaspa added. Still, the two were somewhat anxious about what they were about to face here. After all, the rest of the produce on this farm attacked them as they passed so far. Lynn was almost afraid to find out what would happen next. Unfortunately, they both found out soon enough. Rolling into their path was a pumpkin as big as a house, with a pre-carved face upon its rind. The monster pumpkin roared at the two of them as it raised its many vines.

"...yeah...this would have been my first guess…" Lynn groaned to herself as she braced herself for a fight. Kaspa tried using her entrancing gaze on the monster gourd, but it didn't seem to have any effect on it. The werewolf girl jumped and rolled out of the way of the vines as they lashed at her, trying to think of a way around it. She decided to try the forceful approach, charging forward and slamming her shoulder into the large orange plant. Unfortunately, it was like charging a locked door; one ram wasn't enough to do much. Even worse for Lynn, she was caught by the pumpkin's leafy tendrils when she got close enough.

"Lynn!" Her serpentine friend cried out as the monster pumpkin tossed her into its mouth, snapping its jaws shut. The monster gourd turned its attention to Kaspa, but before it could make a move on her, its expression turned into one of great pain. From inside the pumpkin, she could hear some very messy, voracious biting. It reached into its mouth and pulled Lynn out, tossing her to the ground. The werewolf girl had a face and mouth full of overripe pumpkin, which she immediately spit out.

"Blech! Repulsive!" She spat. "This thing is utterly rotten!"

"That means it's ready to be picked." Kaspa commented as she helped her up, the monster pumpkin beating a hasty retreat. Once Lynn recovered from the incident, the two of them ran off, with the athletic teen wolf rushing to catch back up with Zeral, who had only just cleared the farm a few seconds before them.

* * *

Lynn Sr and Rita were both a bundle of nerves, having witnessed their daughter going through such a dangerous obstacle course that was believed to be just a simple marathon. They were so shaky that they had to hand Lily to Lori, so's not to make her uncomfortable. Far from it, though, Lily was looking around at everything. All these new sights were a wonder to her. She wished she could get a good look around, but she knew her family wouldn't let her. Still, there was a lot she could see from right there, and she could see her older sister race too. However, one time she looked back, she spotted something on the ground behind the stands: a candy bar. Her eyes widened as she licked her lips. She looked to her family, making sure they were focused on the screen before she made her move. First, she edged herself off of Lori's lap, nice and slow so it didn't look too suspicious. Once she was seated between Lori and Leni, she then slowly shifted herself back, until she could start climbing down. Once she was on the ground, she smiled widely and waddled toward the candy bar. However, when she reached for it, it suddenly jumped a few feet away. This confused the infant, not to mention upset her. She went after the treat, but it jumped again. Lily huffed, but refused to give up. Meanwhile, Lincoln had to look away from the screen, because the more he watched, the angrier he was getting. His fuse was at an all time low after seeing the man responsible for turning his sister into a werewolf, the cheating, and now just how hazardous this race was. It was then when he noticed Lily toddling away. "What the!? Where is Lily going?"

"What!?" All eyes suddenly turned to see the baby Loud turning a corner around a building behind them.

"I'll get her." Lincoln offered, vaulting over the back of the stands and landing on his feet before running to where he saw her go. However, when he got there, there was no sign of her. Just a knocked over trash barrel and a brand new candy bar on a string. It didn't take Ace Savvy to figure out what happened here. "...oh no...Lily!" The Loud warlock yelled out.

* * *

Back on the track, Zeral may have had a substantial lead, but he was starting to tire a bit. He had been sprinting this whole time just to keep ahead of Lynn, and it was sapping his energy quick. Not only that, but his new leg was starting to cramp up. He hadn't done any real running with it after getting out of the hospital, and now he was paying for it. He refused to stop, however, because he knew Lynn was behind him. Up ahead, The Hex Girls' tour bus was driving along at a leisurely pace, with Luna Loud scouting ahead for trouble and Francisco looking back. Through his binoculars, he could see Lynn starting to gain, which brought a smile to his face. However, he also noticed something else catching up with both of them. A motorized scooter, by the look of it. "Lynn. Something's headed your way from behind, a little off the course." He told her through the phone as he got a closer look. "A scooter...with a goblin on it."

"Thanks for the warning, Franc." The werewolf Loud replied. She pretended not to notice as the scooter zoomed by, trying to be stealthy. Once the goblin had gotten ahead of her, he released a black cat onto the track. Lynn, of course, saw this, but paid it no mind as it past by her. Confused, but not deterred, the goblin lept onto the scooter and drove ahead of the werewolf girl and tossed a ladder onto the path. The sports lover didn't have time to go around it, so she had to run under it. However, she also didn't give a flip about it. Now the crafty little monster was irritated. He decided to pull out all the stops. He once more rode up ahead of his target and ducked into a bush. As soon as Lynn got close enough, the goblin jumped out in a wooden witch doctor's mask, right in her way. She skidded to a stop as he started yelling what was basically gibberish at her.

"Aboola tuki tiki yaki yak!" He chanted, pointing a skull shaped rattle at her. "I curse you!" The werewolf girl just looked at him, then smirked as she crossed her arms in front of her. Seeing she wasn't intimidated, he started to sweat as he tried again. "Eeki eeki tobi mori." It was taking everything Lynn had not to laugh. "ooo eee ooo ah ah!" The goblin screamed in a last ditch attempt, jumping around like a maniac.

"Well, ting tang walla walla bing bang to you too." Lynn responded, grabbing his mask and pulling it down like it were a baseball cap. No longer able to see, the goblin started to stumble about, cursing in the goblin language while he tried to fix his mask. His intended target simply went around him, dashing after Zeral, whose lead had extended because of this interruption. This scene sent most of the spectators at the starting line into hysterics, while Cerano simply groaned, shaking his head with his palm on his face.

* * *

A fair distance away from the starting line, Zervan was pacing about by the large bat fountain in the middle of the town square. As almost everyone was either at the race or so scared of the Leatherwing Clan, he wasn't worried about being seen. He was more worried about whether the bat he sent could get the job done. He didn't need to worry for long, however, for a tall, mangy humanoid bat came running up to them, Lily in his arms and a hand over her mouth. "hehehehe I got her, boss! I really got her!"

"Really now? Well done." Zervan said with a sinister smirk. "And you got the baby too. Even better." He leans closer to Lily, whose eyes were starting to fill up with tears. "With your help, we're going to get that werewolf to drop out of the are going to be a big payday for us...yes you are…" He taunted her. The bat gang all started to laugh as Lily glared at him. Little did they know that she wasn't going to take this laying down. She squirmed a bit until she could get one of her little arms free, before punching Zervan right in the eye. Because he was wearing sunglasses, his actual eye was protected, but the hit still hurt a little. The gang leader grunted in surprise and mild pain, holding his hands over where he had been punched. Lily then swung her fist into the nose of the bat man holding her, causing him to drop her. The rest of the gang was laughing so hard that they had gotten decked by a baby that no one went after her as she started to crawl away. That is, until Zervan screamed "Get that baby!" before he and four of his crew ran after her. Unfortunately for Lily, she couldn't crawl away fast enough before Zervan caught up. When he reached down to scoop her up, he was suddenly blasted right off his feet and several feet away, taking one of his men down with him. The remaining three freeze and look ahead to see what had happened. Lincoln was forming three new magic missiles in his hands.

"Get away from her!" He screamed before he hurled the magic projectiles at the three bats, knocking them away from his baby sister before dashing forward, grabbing her and racing away from the gang of flying rodents. The remaining Leatherwing members gave chase. As they were much bigger and more fit than Lincoln, they were gaining on him and Lily fast. However, Lincoln wasn't the man with the plan for nothing. "Cover your eyes, Lily." He whispered. The infant nodded and put her hands over her eyes. The one son conjured a light sphere in his hand before tossing it behind him. "Hey Batly! Catch!" He shouted. Reacting without thinking, the lead bat man caught the glowing orb. The moment he did, Lincoln hurled another magic missile over his shoulder, striking the sphere and causing it to burst in a bright flash. The gang pursuing the white haired lad all screeched in pain, covering their sensitive eyes. The middle Loud smirked a bit, Lily laughing at the sight of all the grown half man, half bats recovering from their temporary blinding. However, Lincoln hadn't gotten all of them. Zervan landed right in front of him, nearly frothing with rage. He bumped right into the lead bat, who grabbed him by the collar of his robe. Lincoln gulped as he looked the wrathful mutant right in the eyes and Lily was about one step from crying again.

"Tah dah dah dah dah dah daaah!" came a voice from seemingly nowhere. Both assailant and victim blinked, and looked around in confusion for the source. "Puppy…" A garbage can was suddenly thrown right on Zervan's head, forcing him to release the Loud Warlock. Scrappy Doo standing on top of the can with a big grin. "...POWER!" He cried out in victory, striking the side of the metal can with a stick. The combination of the impact and the loud banging seriously disoriented the man bat, causing him to reel a little before falling over.

"Scrappy! Am I glad to see you!" Lincoln exclaimed in relief.

"Scappy!" Lily cheered.

"Come on, you two. Let's get out of here before they recover." The tough puppy instructed, motioning the two to follow him. Before they could get too far, however, more Leatherwing Gang members started to step out of the shadows and alleys, in front of and all around them. Seems they kept some of their number hidden in case of trouble.

"Uh oh…" Lily gulped as she saw the sudden appearance of even more trouble.

"Looks like we're going to have to fight our way out, Linc…" Scrappy said seriously, twirling the stick in his hand like a bo staff. The one son adopted a fighting stance, though he knew he couldn't do much with Lily in his other arm. However, he wasn't about to let these punks take his little sister without a fight.

* * *

 _AN: I figured Scrappy deserved a moment to be the hero, since he had gotten unceremoniously benched before the fight with Sigmund Lesrec._


	12. Chapter 12

The Race pt 2

"Welcome back, fiendish footrace fanciers." Vanna Pira declared as the commercial break ended. "Vanna Pira here, and it's been quite a race so far. Hometown hero Zeral continues to hold the lead as he approaches the Mist Marrow Marsh, with the spunky werewolf from Royal Woods, Lynn Loud, hot on his trail. In a fairly distant third is Miss Kaspa, being contested by Nostufaro and Bolten Jr as they all leave Backbite Farms." She announced to the viewers at home, while Cerano glared at the clip of Lynn starting to catch back up with his cousin near the swamp. However, he wasn't licked yet. The Mist Marrow Swamp had its own set of hazards...which would be made all the worse if he had anything to say about it.

* * *

"Get off my tail, you reject from the pound!" The four legged, undead runner screamed as he tried to run faster. His new leg was starting to burn from all the stress he was putting it through.

"Only after I pass you, leather face!" Lynn retorted, keeping a steady, rapid pace. Zeral was moving just a little too fast for her to overcome, but she could see he was burning through his energy quickly. She just needs to be patient (something typically she had trouble with) and she'd have this in the bag. He was already starting to show signs of exhaustion as they passed the first checkpoint, each grabbing a bottle of water on the run. However, as they went by, the imp running the checkpoint pulled out a little walkie talkie.

"They just crossed my path, headed into the mire. Disturb the swamp monster…"

* * *

Just ahead of the two racers, a small pack of imps and quasits had heard the call over their radio. This was the moment they were waiting for; the ability to cause some havoc AND be paid for it. All because Mr Rotters wanted to make sure his cousin won. The demons and devils gathered up some rocks and ran to the nearest pool of swamp muck. The pond was covered with algae and weeds, and was almost perfectly still. This didn't last long, as the hired fiends all started chucking rocks and pebbles into the water. After a few seconds, the water started to churn and bubble, giving the imps and quasits the sign it was time to bail. They weren't the only ones ahead of the group either. The Hex Girls' bus was driving alongside the marsh, Francisco scanning the area from where they were positioned. The bus wasn't equipped to drive into the Mist Marrow Marsh, so they were forced to take the road around it. "See anything, mate?" Luna asked the young man.

"Not a thing...I can hardly see into the swamp…" Lynn's boyfriend said sadly, lowering his binoculars.

"Dang it...and we can't go in for a closer look…" Luna sighed. "Looks like Lynn's gonna be on her own in there…"

"We can still get ahead of the swamp and scout there." Dusk said, keeping her eyes on the road.

* * *

At that moment, Lynn and Zeral had just entered the swamp. The marsh was even darker than the rest of Transylvania, the gnarled willows and clouds of swamp gas blotting out the full moon. The muddy ground was making the run much more difficult, but it wasn't anything the werewolf and ghoul hadn't been through before. However, the smell was something else entirely. Between the stagnant water, the aforementioned gas, and the scent of rotting wood, it could have given Lily's diaper a run for its money. Lynn was tough, though. She could weather through it for as long as it took. She was right in arm's length of the overconfident wight when something burst forth from the pond they were just running past. The surprise brought them both to a stop, or more accurately, it's the reason the Loud teen stopped. Zeral stopped because he desperately needed a rest at this point. Standing in the very center of the water was a hulking mass of algae, grass, weeds and ooze. The creature opened its eyes, glaring straight ahead for a moment. Lynn felt a slight stab of concern upon seeing this creature of the swamp.

* * *

"What on Earth is that thing!?" Rita screamed in fright.

"By the look of it, I would say a Swamp Monster." Lucy said, nowhere near as scared as her parents and most of her siblings.

"Fascinating...I wonder if I could get a chance to study it later…" Lisa mused to herself.

"A real swamp monster...this is SO COOL!" Lana exclaimed excitedly.

"Lana! This is not cool! That THING could hurt Lynn!" Lola snapped angrily at her twin. The Louds watched with bated breath as the cameras focus on the marsh denizen, who was simply staring for a moment, before its eyes went kind of funny. The pupils looked off in different directions, and a dopey grin appeared on its face. His dim expression caused everyone's feelings of concern to change into befuddlement.

* * *

"Duuh...oh boy! A puppy!" The creature cheered.

"Puppy? Where?" The WereLynn asked before she was grabbed by the hulking mass of mostly plant matter.

"Just what I always wanted!" The less than intelligent swamp monster said joyously.

"Hey! Let me go!"

"I will name him George, and I will hug him and squeeze him and pet him and pat him!" He continued, pulling her into a tight hug. Lynn growled, struggling and pushing with all her might. However, it wasn't quite enough. Despite looking like it was made all of plant life, he was solid as a rock and had a grip like steel. Zeral found this so hilarious, he had fallen to all four of his knees, laughing hysterically.

"Get your slimy hands off me!" The werewolf girl yelled angrily. ""I am NOT a puppy!"

"Not a puppy, George? But you are all furry, with a fluffy tail and pointed ears. And you look like a young doggie." The swamp monster reasoned, holding her in one large hand. "That is a puppy to me."

"...Ok, you're not TECHNICALLY wrong." Lynn was forced to admit. "...let's try this from another angle...George is more of a boy's name, right?" The very stupid marsh monster nodded in agreement. "So you agree it's not a girl's name?"

"Uh huh."

"So it's no name for a girl werewolf, which I am."

"Huh? Oh. Oh no, you are right."

"However, it WOULD be the perfect name for a boy greyhound, right?"

"Oh, it would! It would!"

"Well, there's one right there!" She declared, pulling one arm free long enough to point to Zeral.

"Hahahaha...wait, what?" The multi legged ghoul asked. The swamp monster's face lit up as he let go of the human turned werewolf and scooped up the ghoul.

"Oh boy oh boy! My very own greyhound puppy! I will name him George-!"

"Hahahahahaha! Not so funny now, is it Crazy Legs!?" Lynn asked amidst her own laughter, the swamp monster repeating his spiel from earlier.

"Unhand me!" Zeral roared in anger as he was being crushed by the creature's affection. "What makes you think I'm a greyhound!?"

"Duuuh…"

"Well, greyhounds have four legs, right?" Lynn assisted the dim witted monster. "Not a lot of fur, very thin and really good at running, yes?"

"Oh, she got you there, George."

"My name isn't George!"

"Well, whatever your name is, I hope you two are very happy together. See ya!" The werewolf Loud waved to them before she bolted from the scene.

"I said let me go!" Zeral snapped, biting the creature's finger. This was a big mistake, as the monster was too stupid to feel it.

"Oh no no no. That is a bad boy, George…" The swamp monster scolded his new 'greyhound' "Don't make me send you to obedience school…"

"I'm NOT a *%$&ing GREYHOUND!" The cousin of Cerano bellowed (his curse being bleeped on the video feed). The massive marsh mound gasped in shock.

"Such a naughty greyhound! I will wash out your mouth with swamp water…" He said sternly, dunking the zombie's head under the muck. "Bad George!" The water was bubbling madly as undead teen struggled and raged with his head under. After a few seconds, he was pulled back up, soaking wet and furious. "I hope you learned your lesson, George. That hurt me more than it did-"

"Listen, you moss covered moron!" The four legged undead runner screamed. "I've got a race to run and, because of you, I've lost the lead!"

"Uh...Race?"

"Yes! The Monster Marathon!"

"Oh my! That is today!? I better get to the village!" The swamp monster said, dropping Zeral back into the muck. "I don't want to lose my seat…" The giant sized mound of living swamp mush started to run out of the marsh, his dropped 'greyhound' crawling out of the muck and mire. The only consolation he could take from this was he was able to give his legs a rest during that escapade.

* * *

Back at the starting line, the spectators were dying of laughter. The Loud family in particular were in utter hysterics after Lynn tricked the monster into focusing on Zeral instead. Cerano, on the other hand, was fit to be tied. Not only did Lynn get ahead of his cousin, but now some of the other racers were passing him too. 'Of all the swamp monsters they could have disrupted...they picked the incredibly stupid one…' He thought angrily.

* * *

As Zeral was shaking the water and mud off of him, Nostufaro took the opportunity to fly right over him, with Bolten Jr hot on his heels (so to speak). The reanimated boy glared up at the bat, upset at his seeming unfair advantage. He scooped up a heaping helping of mud in his hand and hurled it up at the vampire bat. His calculated throw hit its target, the extra weight of the sludge forcing Nostufaro down to the ground. The Frankenstein like boy smirked, pleased with his work. Right behind him, Kaspa was easily gliding through the soft ground. While she wasn't fond of swampy terrain, her serpentine lower half was perfectly suited for it. And not far behind her were the witch twins, who were floating across the surface of the swamp because of a spell they had cast on their feet.

* * *

Lori glared as she watched the magical sisters skate across the marsh. She turned to look right at Cerano, mouth open for a moment, but then closed it. "Lisa...is it worth objecting?"

"Not in the least, elder sister. It's not technically flight."

"I thought not…" The grumpy phone enthusiast said, sulking in her seat as she went back to watching the race.

* * *

By the time Cerano's cousin was cleaned up enough get running again, the rest of the runners had just entered the swamp, except for Talking Tina (who knew her stubby little legs couldn't get her through the mud) and Forrester (who was only halfway through the farm). The living doll looked downcast, but not out of it yet. She had a plan. She opened a compartment in her chest and started to dig around in it for a moment. Pleased with her lead, Lynn slowed down to a more leisurely pace to conserve her energy. She knew the value of pacing herself. She glanced back to see if anyone was behind her. In the distance behind her, she could see Kaspa slither ahead of Bolten Jr. She gave the both of them a wave while she ran, smiling lightly. It was at this point the witch twins had zipped past the reanimated teen and gorgon, cackling loudly. "Now there's only one more runner ahead of me!" Merribel said with a sinister smirk.

"You mean me!" Merriweather corrected her. "But I can fix that." She continued, pulling a wand from under her pointed hat.

"Uh oh!" Lynn gasped, kicking it into overdrive just in time to avoid a beam of magic. The ray struck a weeping willow tree, causing it to slump over as if it were asleep.''

"Hmph! Your aim is terrible as always." Merribel spat. "If you want something done right…" She grumbled, pulling her own wand out and slinging a spell of her own at the running werewolf. With her heightened senses and reflexes, the Loud Lycan was able to strafe out of the way, the spell flying right over her shoulder.

* * *

"That CAN'T be legal!" Luan shouted, watching her sister dodge spell after spell.

"You're absolutely right, Miss Loud." Cerano commented, getting surprised looks from Lynn's family.

"I am?"

"Mm hmm. It's not legal...if they hit her." He followed up with a smirk. This brought a scowl to the family joker's face.

"...Please let me prank him…" She quietly pleaded with her mother.

"...later, Luan." Rita muttered.

* * *

"See!? Your aim isn't much better, Greasy Bell!" Merriweather snapped, the two witches launching spells wildly in an attempt to hit Lynn. However, none of their shots were even close.

"I don't see you hitting her, Scary Blubber!" The witchy sisters suddenly came to a stop, growling at one another as they started casting spells at one another now.

"Reminds me of Lola and Lana." Lynn said quietly to herself as she put some distance between her and the witches. The gorgon teen was forced to stop to avoid getting caught in the crossfire, but Zeral sped right past all of them. The speed in which he ran kicked up a deluge of mud, splattering the witches and causing their last spells to go off wild. The magic collided in the air, exploding in a thick cloud of smoke. Kaspa and the two witches were coughing from the result of the magical collision, unable to see. She tried to swat the smoke away and move along, but before she could get very far, a hand was clasped over her mouth and she felt her arm being grabbed as she was being pulled away.

* * *

A mile past Mist Marrow Marsh, Cerano's gang of demons and devils were digging up the sandy shore of Moray Bay. To call the body of water a bay may be being generous, as it was more a salt water lake. A very large salt water lake, but still a lake. However, the lake was home to monster sized eels, which is how the waters gained their name. The northern shore of the lake had a wide expanse of fine sandy beach, which is where the imps and quasits were working. "If the swamp monster doesn't stop that werewolf…" a maroon skinned, horned imp commented as he put blunt toothed snap traps into the holes they had dug. "...these traps will stop her."

"You think so, old boy?" A voice from behind him asked curiously.

"Without a doubt. You see, just like with the farm, Zeral will go around the beach once we give him the signal, while the werewolf will run right into the sand and fall right into these traps."

"Hmmm. I see. Not bad...but I see one major flaw with that plan."

"Oh really!?" The imp turned around, looking right into the smirking face of Brunch. The tiny devil jumped back in fright, falling right into one of the snap traps.

"Oooh...tough luck, old bean." Brunch said with a snicker. The other fiends tried to slink away, but Crunch cut them off, ramming them all right into the water. "Well done, Crunch. Now, let's clear out these traps."

"Blokay." Crunch said as he started pulling up the trap. "Blay...don't ble blave a blunting trip blis fall? Blith the Bleadless Blorsemen?"

"Hmmm. Very true, my friend."

"Blen why not bleep these?" He suggested, holding up the trap currently holding the imp by the chain.

"Quite the practical idea. Good call." Brunch said with a nod as he pulled out his phone. "Luna Loud, Brunch reporting in."

"Talk to me, Brunch. What's up?"

"Crunch and I are clearing out a field of traps just on the beach. Archaic, but effective...or it would have been if we didn't catch Cerano's minions in the act."

"Sweet news. Lynn said she's almost out of the swamp. Good to know she won't have to worry about anything there."

"We're going to head back toward Castle Dracula and keep watch of the trail."

"Right. Keep us posted, mate."

"Likewise. Cheerio." Brunch ended the call as he hopped onto a bicycle built for two, his friend having just finished loading the basket in front of the blunt snap traps, complete with an imp in pain.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the village, an all out brawl seemed to be going on. In reality, it was simply Scrappy and Lincoln doing battle with most of the Leatherwing Clan. Scrappy was certainly living up to his name, holding his own quite well against the man sized bat creatures. Using the stick he was carrying and his little fists and feet, the puppy was able to hold back at least three of them punks, and was beating on a fourth. Lincoln, however, wasn't faring quite as well. He was able to keep a few of the bats at bay with his magic, but being attacked by so many of the punks and trying to keep Lily safe at the same time, he couldn't fight them all, and he certainly couldn't dodge them all. After getting knocked back into a wall by a flying kick, which nearly made him drop Lily, the white haired boy found himself running out of options. He was vastly outnumbered, outmuscled, and already tired from all the magic he had cast already. However, Lincoln still had one plan left. It was extraordinarily risky, but it was that or get beaten to a pulp by Leatherwings. "Lily..climb onto my back, hold on tight and DON'T MOVE." Lincoln instructed quickly as he held his hands. "First, I need some space…" Lincoln muttered as his baby sister climbed onto his back. "Aerosa…." A swirling sphere of wind appeared in his hands as the bats leaped at him. "...EXPOSSI!" He bellowed, a powerful cone of wind being released from his hands. The hurricane force wind was enough to blow the man bats away from him. He then sprang forward, planting his hands on the ground. "Here goes…"

"Get the brat!" Zervan shouted as his gang recovered from the sudden gust.

"Infern...encapsula…." Lincoln chanted, sweat pouring down his face. The Leatherwings about to pounce on the kids paused when they saw the red runes glowing on the ground. "...TALLAVOR!" Lincoln exclaimed. The magic markings on the ground flashed before they erupted, sending a torrent of twisting flames toward the sky, surrounding Lincoln and Lily.

* * *

Some distance away, at the starting line, all the spectator's present were alarmed a sound similar to an explosion, and the sight of a towering pillar of flames over the rooftops behind them. "What is that!?" Rita exclaimed after nearly shrieking loudly.

"I dunno...but it looks like a hot time in the old town." Luan quipped.

"Luan, this isn't a joking manner…" Lori scolded her with a frown. Given that her brother hadn't returned with Lily yet, she had a bad feeling about that. A bad feeling she was hardly alone in feeling.

"Stay in your seats…" Dracula commanded as he rose from his seat, a stone faced look on his face. "I vill investigate this personally…" He vanished into a puff of smoke.

* * *

Lincoln was breathing heavily, on his knees and hands on the ground, utterly exhausted. '...well, that's it…' He thought to himself. 'I'm spent...for Lily's sake, I hope it worked…'

"Nice trick, midget." Zervan said with a smirk as he stood over the young man. "Too bad you missed entirely."

"I got the mutt, boss." One of the larger bat punks said, holding Scrappy by the scruff of the neck. The pup was still fighting like mad, but he couldn't get himself free.

"Good. We'll have him for a snack later, but first things first. We need this baby to get the werewolf to bail." He leered down at Lincoln, cracking his knuckles. "But first...I'm gonna break your scrawny little neck." He started to laugh evilly as he reached down toward the one son. Both he and Lily closed their eyes, bracing themselves for what was about to happen. However, the leader of the clan's laughter suddenly turned into choking. Lincoln didn't open his eyes, though, until he heard Lily say:

"Dacooa!" The middle Loud looked up in surprise, seeing Count Dracula holding Zervan by the throat; and he. Was. PISSED. The Leatherwing Clan gazed at the vampire lord in utter terror, their leader choking and sputtering as he struggled to get out of the choke hold.

"L….Lord Dracula…." He coughed, his hands gripping the furious vampire's arm.

"Give me one reason to let you live, you miserable excuse for a monster…" Vlad growled threateningly.

"...I...I can give you names…" Zervan choked, kicking his feet in midair. The green skinned nosferatu narrowed his eyes at him before loosening his grip a bit.

"...you have two chances. Make them count." He warned him.

"Don't I get three stri-"

"You lost your first strike vhen you attacked the children!" Dracula screamed into Zervan's face.

"Right! Right! It was Mr Rotters! He paid us to get the werewolf to drop out!" The bat punk turned stool pigeon cried.

"Don't insult my intelligence, punk. I know that already!" Vlad tightened his grip on the ne'er do well's throat, just to drive his point home.

"Wait! Wait!" He sputtered as he started gasping for air again. "He's...not...the only one!" This got not only Dracula's attention, but Lincoln's. Once more, he let the bat man breathe. "...and what's more, he doesn't care if we ice her…" Lincoln gasped in absolute horror when he heard that.

"Keep talking, if you value your life..."

"There's an ambush planned for her...in Rover Woods, near your castle." He choked out, still trying to slip free. "...some of my clan and some hired muscle will be waiting for her there…"

"Who!? Who else wants Lynn Loud out of the race!?"

"No idea...but they paid a lot of money upfront…" Zervan confessed. The vampire lord scowled at him before conjuring a crystal ball into his free hand.

"Brunch! Freako! Luna!"

"Yes, Lord Dracula?"

"What's up, Count?"

"I hear ya, Count. What's wrong?"

"There is an ambush planned for Lynn. In Rover Voods." He informed them in a serious tone. "...a possibly lethal one. Anyone closest to the voods should investigate."

"Right you are, Count. Crunch and I will investigate immediately." Brunch responded.

"Lynn's just about to reach Moray Bay. That isn't too far from there. We'll go check it out too." Luna said.

"Very good. Keep in touch." The green skinned vampire replied before disengaging the crystal ball.

"Well, since we got that out of the way…" The gang leader tried to pull out of the vampire's grip, but it was still as strong as ever. "Huh!? What gives?"

"...at vhat point did I say I vould release you…?" Dracula asked, sneering enough to reveal his fangs. Zervan went pale as Lincoln covered Lily's eyes and closed his own. He heard a splorch sound, making him cringe. When the one son opened his eyes, he saw that the lead bat punk looked pale and glassy eyed. "Zervan...you vill take your mangy gang...and get out of Transylvania. Am I understood?"

"Yes, master…" He replied dully.

"And don't ever come back. If I see you or any of your gang in my domain again...you vill not live to regret it…"

"Understood, master…"

"Good. Now scram." He commanded, the enthralled Zervan stumbling off. "And you there!" He thrust a finger toward the Leatherwing holding Scrappy. "Put the puppy down." The bat man quickly put Scrappy down, earning himself a kick to the shin. Then, the Leatherwing Clan took to their heels and, as Dracula demanded, scramed.

"Thank you, Dracula…" Lincoln said, still exhausted from the last spell he cast.

"Are you both alright, Lincoln?"

"Yeah...Lily's just fine." He replied, his baby sister hugging him tightly. "As for me, kinda banged up and really tired, but otherwise ok."

"Good. Quite a gamble you made with such a powerful spell, Lincoln." Vlad commented as he helped the white haired warlock up.

"Yeah, I know. I was worried I could have gotten one of the buildings in the inferno, or Lily…" He admitted, very unsteady on his feet. "...but it worked."

"Did you happen to get any of them in the blast?"

"...maybe. I wasn't paying much attention to that." Lincoln replied, getting a strange look from the vampire lord. "I was more focused on getting someone's attention, since there was no way we could fight them all off at once."

"Not from lack of trying, though." Scrappy interjected.

"You're a strange one, Lincoln Loud." Dracula said with a raised eyebrow, but then he smiled a bit. "But as you said, it worked. Come on. Let's get you all back to your families." He added, escorting Lincoln, Lily and Scrappy back toward the starting line.

* * *

When she had lost the witch twins, Lynn thought it was safe to run at a more energy efficient pace, the end of the march just ahead. However, the moment she eased up was the moment Zeral bolted right past her. "What the…? Ah man...here we go again." The WereLoud growled. However, before she could speed up again, someone else passed her too. It looked like Talking Tina, but she was running on legs as long as stilts. Each step she made sent her much further than a single step Lynn could take, allowing her to make up in distance what she lacked in speed. "Huh?"

"Doll perks~!" The ambulatory doll chirped as she started to catch up to Zeral.

"...Ok...that's both clever and annoying…" The athletic sister commented before she started to sprint to close the distance. When they finally exited the marsh, it was a hotly contested battle for first between the Loud werewolf, the multi legged ghoul and the high stepping doll. This, of course, seriously upset Zeral. It was bad enough that mangy mutt was right behind him (where she belonged, admittedly, but still), but to have this nobody toy trying to take what was rightfully his!? That was an insult, and he wasn't going to stand for it. So, as the trio were dashing onto the sandy shores of Moray Bay, the cheating zombie kicked out with one of his four legs. His foot slammed into the back of one of her knees, causing Talking Tina to lose her balance and fall. The living doll screamed as her super long plastic legs broke from the fall, and her now legless body rolled in the sand and right into the water.

"Help!" She cried out while waving her arms in panic, which made Lynn skid to a stop. "Help! I can't swim and I shouldn't get wet!" She screamed as she started to sink. The fur bearing Loud looked toward Zeral, who was taking the opportunity to extend his ill gotten lead. She decided she could deal with him later. Tina needed helped NOW. Without any further hesitation, Lynn sprang into the air and dove into the cold, salty water. Talking Tina was sinking like a stone, her mouth tight shut and her terror struck eyes filling with tears. However, between Lynn's intense training and her enhanced physical abilities from being a werewolf, she had more than enough strength and endurance to catch her plastic competitor before she could hit bottom. Unfortunately for both of them, this got the attention of the monstrous moray eels that inhabited this lake, and they were headed right for them in mass. The determined lycan wasn't about to let them get either of them, though. She put Tina on her back and swam like their lives depended on it (which it did). She was fast, but the eels were faster, snapping at her heels and tail in seconds. She wasn't focused on the snake like fish behind her, though, even though she knew they were too close for comfort. Her eyes were on the surface, which was quickly approaching. Just before one of the eels could take a big bite of her tail, Lynn broke through the surface and flew right onto the beach, though she still lost some fur from her tail. Lynn was gasping for air, while Tina was crying from fright, her face buried in her hands as she laid on her stomach.

"That...was close…" The Loud werewolf said breathlessly. "...you ok there, Tina?" The living doll slowly nodded as she sobbed.

"You...you saved my life…thank you..."

"Don't mention it…" Lynn replied as she stood back up. "Sorry about your legs…"

"I...sniff...still have my original legs...but I have to dry off before I can put them on…"

"You gonna be alright?"

"Y...Yeah. I think so…"

"Ok, good. I'm going after that four legged jerk…" The werewolf girl said, glaring up the beach. "See you later, Tina. Take care of yourself."

"You too…" The little doll nodded, waving as Lynn charged along the shoreline. Up ahead, Zeral was running as fast as he could across the fine sand. However, between the difficulty of getting through the soft mud and now the sand, it was exhausting his energy quickly, and his new leg was cramping something fierce.

'Curse it all…' He thought furiously. 'I've never been pushed this hard. I usually leave my competitors in the dust…' He turned his head for a look behind him, only to see Lynn gaining quickly, a cloud of dust in her wake. 'Ah hell...I didn't think I'd have to do this...but it's come to this.' The ghoul planted all four feet into the ground, turning with a skid as he reached into his pocket. Thinking she was about to be attacked, Lynn came to a halt and adopted a fighting stance: her fists up and her fangs bared. To her ultimate shock, Zeral pulled from his pocket a small ring box. "Lynn Loud, I must admit...you are the only one who has ever been able to even come close to matching my speed, and the most competition I've ever encountered. You have the drive, gumption and determination to be a rival unlike any other I faced. But, one such as yourself is worthy of more than being just my rival…" He flipped open the box with his thumb, revealing a ring with a huge diamond on it: as big as a man's thumb. Lynn's eyes grew wide with surprise at the sight of it. "Lynn Loud...will you do me the honor?"

"Sa...say what!?"

* * *

"Say what!?" The dumbfounded Loud's asked in astonishment.

"Say WHAT!?" Mr Rotters exclaimed in surprise and anger, much to the surprise of Lynn's family.

"Wait. He didn't know this would happen?" Lynn Sr commented quietly.

"Dad, I think there's something more pressing to worry about…" Lori replied, a little annoyed at her father.

"Isn't that romantic?" Leni asked with a dreamy sigh. She was oblivious to the evil eye leers she was getting from her family.

"Leni! How can you say that!?" Her older sister asked in outrage.

"How can you not?" Leni replied with a frown. "The full moon over the beach in Europe...I mean, the proposer isn't ideal; he's a big meanie...but everything else is just perfect."

"Well, when she puts it that way…" Lola had to admit, her mind imagining Winston proposing to her in the same circumstances, kinda zoning out with a silly smile on her face.

"...fair enough." Lori said, grinning a bit as she imagined the same, only with Bobby.

"No way is Lynn going to fall for that…" Lincoln commented as he slowly rejoined his family, Lily in his arms.

"Lincoln! Lily! There you are!" Rita exclaimed. "I was getting worried-" She started to say, but when she looked at her son, she noticed how tired he looked, not to mention the bruises she could see. "Lincoln!? What happened to you?"

"I'll explain later…let's just say, for now, SOMEONE has a lot more to answer for..." He answered, glaring sideways toward Mr Rotters. "...Like I said, there is no way Lynn will fall for that."

* * *

"...Accept this ring, and let us win this race together." Zeral said in a smooth voice with a toothy smile.

"...you must think I'm some kind of idiot!" Lynn said with an angry scowl, shaking her head in disbelief, which wiped the smile from his face. "You spent the whole time we've known each other insulting me and being an overall egotistical jerk. Why would I becoming engaged to someone like that? Plus, I bet that ring would turn me into a zombie slave, or a frog, or blow up on me or something. So thanks, but NO thanks!" She added before turning her nose to him and rushing off further down the beach, leaving a dumbstruck Zeral behind.

* * *

"See? What'd I tell you?" The one son said with a slight smirk.

"Thatta girl, Lynn." Luan cheered.

"It is kinda sad though…" Leni chimed in.

"I would reserve my sympathy for someone more deserving, were I in your shoes, Leni." Lisa said. "After all, from what I have gathered from observing him, all he cares about is achieving victory, through fair means or foul...mostly foul." Just then, Zeral threw the ring box into the said in absolute fury. The ring exploded like a grenade upon impact, causing most of the family to recoil in shock, and Leni to leap into Lori's arms, just like Scooby did with Shaggy not far away.

"Leni, get off!" Lori demanded, dropping her younger sister back in her seat.

"I rest my case." Lisa added dryly.

* * *

'Whoa...sounds like I was right.' Lynn thought as she heard the ring explode far behind her. 'Seriously though...how in the heck did he think THAT was going to work?' She wondered for a moment as she sped along the shoreline. 'Guess his brain is as rotten as the rest of him.' She chuckled lightly. 'Ok, Lynn. Focus. Eyes on the prize.' She thought, bringing her mind back to the path ahead of her. With her keen hearing, she could hear her four legged foe running after her. He was a fair distance away though, so the werewolf girl wasn't worried. She was almost off the beach, a fact for which she was grateful for: her own legs were starting to really burn and she was getting sand in her sneakers. What she didn't know was that she was being watched. Hidden among the gnarled branches of the dead trees that made up Rover Woods, one of the Leatherwing gang members was keeping careful watch over her. As she got closer, he looked over his shoulder and let loose a high frequency screech: too high for most to hear, even Lynn's werewolf ears, but not his fellow bat men. With his message sent out, he flew off, deeper into the woods. As the WereLynn left the shore of Moray Bay and started to run past the forest of dead trees bound for Castle Dracula, she heard a shrill scream of pain coming from the woods. "Huh!?" She nearly fell flat on her face as the surprise threw her off her stride. "Was that...Kaspa?" She asked herself, her pointed ears stuck straight up. Did she really hear that? She had to be certain, so she zipped off the path and into the ancient woods, not knowing the danger she was running right into.


	13. Chapter 13

The Race pt 3

"Welcome back, Monster Marathon fans. Vanna Pira here, and have things taken quite a turn during this last hour. Not only have a few of our competitors been taken out of the race momentarily…" The view screen showed images of the witch twins still trying to zap each other, and Talking Tina still drying out on the beach as other racers started to pass her. "...and one of our racers going missing…" A little animated clip of a cartoon caricature of Kaspa entering the swamp played, but never showed her leaving the swamp. "...but the fight for first place has become positively cutthroat."

"Don't give him any ideas…" Lori muttered under her breath.

"Miss Lynn Loud and Mr Zeral Rotters continue to be the favorites to win, letting no set back even slow them down. Not an over affectionate swamp monster…"

"Duh...hey. I'm on tv!" The dim witted swamp giant commented from behind the stands, causing the Loud family to jump in shock.

"Where did you come from!?" Lola asked, wondering how they never heard him coming.

"...the swamp?"

"...I walked right into that one…" The pageant princess groaned, gripping her nose as Luan laughed.

"...Not a rescue attempt…" Vanna continued, showing the clip of Lynn saving Tina from Moray Bay. "...not even an impromptu marriage proposal. Last we checked, Miss Loud had taken the lead. However, it appears she has ran off course, headed right into the thick of Rover Woods."

"Why would she do that?" Leni inquired, scratching her head.

"Duh...maybe she wants a puppy of her own?" The swamp monster suggested stupidly.

"Do you mind, good sir? Family conference." Lisa commented, politely yet indignantly.

"Oh...sorry."

"...She's headed right into a trap…" Lincoln revealed, a look of helplessness on his face.

"What did you say, Lincoln!?" His mother and father asked together. The white haired boy proceeded to tell his parents about what had happened in town: the bat gang who tried to kidnap Lily, how he and Scrappy tried to fight them off, Dracula's timely arrival, and Zervan's confession. There was a mixture of strong emotions going through his entire family as he related the story: horror, disgust, concern, and especially anger.

"...Girls. Lincoln. Would you all kindly keep your eyes in that direction for a few minutes?" Rita said, her face all red and her voice one of VERY forced calm, gesturing to her left and away from the rest of the stands. "...Mommy is about to be setting a VERY bad example…"

"...how bad?" The kindly, but dull wittedly teen foolishly asked.

"...I am about to go over to Mr Rotters...and WRING HIS UNDEAD NECK!" She yelled before she tried to get at the well to do ghoul. Fortunately, her husband and children were right in her path and were able to hold her back due to sheer numbers.

"Mom! No!" Lori cried out, holding her arms out to block her mother's path.

"Rita, it's not-" Lynn Sr started to say.

"Get out of my way!" The furious mother snapped, struggling to get past them all. "I am NOT taking this lying down!"

"Mom, I know it feels like this will make you feel better…" Lola said. "...goodness knows it would for me…"

"...but this action would be ill advised at this time and setting." Lisa added, being one of the few who wasn't part of the human wall blocking her. The other was the exhausted Lincoln and Lily.

"But…"

"It will be ok, Mom." Lucy said, also out of the way. "Evil tends to be punished, if not by the law, then by karma. And the negative karma is building up on him exponentially."

"She speaks the truth, Mrs Loud." Dracula said, remaining in his own seat, but ready to intervene at a moments notice. "Trust us. Cerano vill NOT get away with this. I vill personally make sure of that." Rita just stood before the wall that was her family, breathing heavily in her rage. She still wanted to personally punish the fiend for everything he's done to her family, but they were right. He would get his. She just needed to wait, she told herself as she sat back down.

"There is something I didn't get a chance to say yet…" Lincoln continued quietly, though he was wondering if he should. "This ambush...it isn't Mr Rotter's doing. There's another involved…"

"There is? Who?" Lori inquired, getting ready to hold back their mother again.

"We don't know. We weren't told. All we know is someone else wants Lynn out of the race and they paid a lot. However, Dracula let the others know about it. Luna, the Hex Girls and the Hunch Bunch are headed that way now."

"...well, that is something, at least…"

* * *

A few minutes earlier…

Deep within the gnarled old trees within Rover Woods, things looked rather grim for Kaspa. She was tied to a twisted old oak that looked like it may have been a person turned painfully into a tree, a cloth over her eyes and her mouth. Her tail was tied and staked to the ground, and she was surrounded by the bat punks of the Leatherwing Clan. By the looks of them, they seemed pleased with themselves. "Alright. We got the bait." The smallest of the group with the biggest fangs commented with a sneering smirk. "We have the reinforcements ready to go. Now we just need to lure our prey." He added, lurching over to the gorgon gal, pulling the cloth from her mouth.

"You are going to pay for this…" The serpenteen growled the moment her mouth was freed.

"You can keep saying it, but it won't make it true." He replied with a snicker. He paused for a moment when he heard a screeching in the distance. "But for now, we are in need of your lovely voice."

"Well, you aren't going to get it."

"That so?" He nodded toward one of his fellows, who knelt down by the tip of her tail. "We'll see about that." The Leatherwing by her tail grabbed it, pulled it up to his face and bit down on the tip hard with his sharp teeth. Kaspa was caught off guard and screamed loudly in pain. "Perfect." The midget Leatherwing said with a few soft claps before he pulled out his cell phone. "Hello, boss...the scene is set. The time for you to enter stage...uh...whichever way you come from."

* * *

Moments before that, on a road going through the southern portion of the woods, the Hex Girls' bus was driving along as fast as they dared in the darkness. Anyone who wasn't driving had their eyes peeled for any sign of this ambush they had been warned about. "Brunch, any news yet?" Luna Loud inquired hopefully, one hand on her phone, the other on her binoculars.

"Negative, Miss Loud." The sophisticated hunchback replied. "We've scoured the northern part of the forest, but have yet to find so much as a clue."

"Same here. Nothing from what we can see from the road." Francisco said. "If only we had something more off road...er, sorry, ladies. Not that we aren't grateful for your help…"

"Don't worry about it, kid." Thorne said, waving his apology off. "Right now, I'm pretty frustrated with our bus too."

"If only we had some kind of sign…" The moment the rock and roll sister said that, they all heard Kaspa's scream.

"Hello…? Miss Loud, did you hear that?" Brunch's voice asked via her phone.

"We sure did…" She answered, getting a very bad feeling about this. A feeling that was only reinforced when she saw a blur of red, white and brown zoom past the bus on the road ahead. The sudden movement surprised Dusk so much, she nearly drove off the road.

"Whoa! Was that her!?" Dusk asked as she regained her composure.

"Sure was."

"Alright everyone...looks like we're going to have to go on foot." Albert said, a serious expression on his face. "Grab what you think we'll need and let's go."

* * *

"How long do you think it'll take for her to get here?" One of the bat men asked, the seven of them just loitering around as they waited. They had regagged Kaspa, because she was screaming at and threatening them and they were just tired of hearing it.

"It shouldn't be long." The mini leader of this task force said. "But just to be safe, we could get her to scream again." He grinned again as he approached the gorgon girl. He didn't even get close to her when…

"AAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOO!" Lynn howled in fury as she pounced from the woods. The short stack bat turned just in time to get slammed by the angry werewolf. He fell to the ground, the full weight of Lynn falling onto his gut, knocking the wind out of him as she flipped off of him. She landed on her feet for a second before jumping into a flying kick, kicking another Leatherwing member in the face. The moment the second bat hit the ground, the other five converged on her. She snarled at them, her fangs and claws bared, which gave the villainous bats pause for thought...or so she thought. In reality, they were only distracting her as a squad of five burly trolls crept out of the woods behind her. Two of the giant like brutes grabbed hold of her arms, holding them tight in place. Lynn tried to fight them off, kicking at and snapping at them like a furious dog. However, their arms were long enough she couldn't touch them, and they were strong enough that even her enhanced strength wasn't enough to pull free. It didn't stop her from trying however. She kept right on fighting until the wings of a large bat with spiky black fur was heard flapping nearby. When the bat came to hover close to the ground, it reformed into Nostufaro, who was leering at Lynn with disgust.

"Hmmm. Very good. You got the filthy mutt." He said in a voice filled with malice. "You aren't so useless after all."

"Nosferatu…" The werewolf girl growled.

"Nostufaro!" The vampire teen yelled, stamping his foot like a child having a tantrum. "For the last time, it's Nostufaro!"

"Well, excuse me! I only ever heard your stupid name like twice!" Lynn screamed in response, wishing she could maul his face off. "What's this about!? You working for that Rotters creep too!?"

"Pffeh. That rotting fool wishes he could work along with me. No. This is personal." He replied coldly. "For daring to humiliate me back at Castle Dracula. In front of my fans and Lord Dracula." He continued, raising a shaking fist at Lynn.

"...are you serious? You made a fool of YOURSELF there." Nostufaro snarled at her, reaching into his mud covered coat.

"For that humiliation, you will pay…" He said, pulling a twisted silver dagger within his coat. Lynn flinched at the sight of the silver blade, her instinct telling her to get away from it. Kaspa screamed into her gag, thrashing in her bindings as the vampire actor strode toward the Were Lynn. "Don't worry, snake in the grass. Once I'm done with her, I'll deal with you...and then her sister…"

"You miserable scumbag…"

"Wouldn't have been my personal choice for last words, but I suppose trash only spouts more trash." Nostufaro said as he raised the knife, his eyes cold and merciless. Before he could lower the blade into Lynn, a crack was heard from not far away, followed by a baseball soaring through the air and colliding with the vampire's head. The impact staggered the vampire for a moment.

"BLLLLLAAAAAAAGGGGGH!" Bellowed Crunch as he came barrelling onto the scene on the bike built for two (oddly alone), wielding his morning star in one hand. Nostufaro turned his head just in time to get hit dead on by the bike, the spitting hunchback leaping off the seat of the bike and swinging the flail at one of the trolls holding the werewolf girl. It hit the creature square on the head, with enough force to make him let go of her, reel for a bit, then fall right onto his back. With one arm free, Lynn had the opening she needed to take a bite out of the ham sized fingers holding her other arm.

"Ugh...stop that werewolf!" Nostufaro demanded as he tried to shove the bike off of him. The Leatherwings moved to obey, but they were stopped by a very loud, high pitched squeal from an electric guitar. The bat punks had to cover their sensitive ears, all of them cringing in pain. This gave Luna, Albert, Francisco and the Hex Girls the chance to make their move. The third oldest of the Loud children threw her guitar back onto her back before belting one of the Leatherwings with a right hook, while Francisco downed another with a bat swing to the breadbasket. Lynn was released by the troll originally holding her, only to get jumped by two bat men. They didn't stop her long, though, as her Pop Pop had tore one of them off her.

"Keep your hands to yourself!" He yelled before he socked the flying vagabond right in the jaw. One of the trolls went after Albert for that stunt, but the old gentleman was ready for him. He grabbed the monster's wrist and hurled him to the ground with a thud.

"Whoa! Nice one, Pop Pop!" Luna said as she ducked under the attack from another man sized flying rodent.

"Thanks. Just one of many things I learned in the armed forces." Albert replied, smashing his elbow right into the face of the downed troll. Meanwhile, Lynn judo threw the Leatherwing punk over her shoulder before running over to Kaspa.

"Hold tight, Kas...I'll get you out of this." She said as she tried to undo the ropes holding her wrists together.

"Oh no you won't!" Nostufaro snapped, slashing the silver dagger at her and forcing her away from her friend as she avoided getting hit.

"Lynn!" Francisco cried out, not noticing the troll sneaking up behind him. Before he could grab the young man, a hammer was thrown right into the side of its head. The hulking brute gave a guttural growl as he turned to glare at the one who dared hit him.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size!?" The red haired Luna yelled at him, dual wielding oversized adjustable wrenches. The green skinned bruiser charged right at her, intent on tackling her. Fortunately, the Hex Girl was far more agile than he was, springing to the side to evade his attack and clock him on the head with one of her wrenches. It hurt the troll, but didn't stop him as he took another swing at her. She jumped back to avoid his log sized arm, back pedalling past one of the larger trees. The creature single mindedly followed after her, never seeing the thick branch swinging at him until it bashed his face in. The impact knocked the trollkin off his feet and onto his back, his head slamming into a tree root. Dusk leapt down from the tree with a smile, giving her fellow Hex Girl a high five.

Meanwhile, Thorne seemed to be being menaced by a troll of her own. He was smirking maliciously at the band leader, cracking his knuckles as she was back up into another one of the gnarled hunks of wood that made up the forest. To some, it would seem she was in trouble. However, she was really luring the meathead into a trap of her own. What most people didn't know about Thorne was that she was a wiccan, and had some skill with magic of her own. The moment her back hit the tree, the dark haired rocker reached into a pouch at her hip and sprinkled some sparkling dust onto the roots of the tree. Before the troll could get too close, the roots wrapped around his ankles, surprising him. He tried to pull free, but before he could, a tree branch curled up into a fist struck him across the face. Stunned, the large green skinned monster looked up just in time to get slugged again. The powder had brought the tree to life, and it was treating the troll like it were a punching bag, Thorne carefully stepping out from under the flailing limbs with a satisfied smile.

With the Leatherwings and trolls busy, Francisco took this opportunity to finish what Lynn started: freeing the gorgon gal from the tree. He hurried around behind her and worked as quick as he could to undo the thick ropes. It took nearly a minute, but he managed it. He then pulled off her blindfold and gag. "T...Thanks…" She told him as soon as she could see again.

"Welcome." He responded as he tried to pull the stakes from the ground.

"No...I can deal with that. Help Lynn…" Kaspa told him, gesturing toward the fighting vampire and werewolf. Nostufaro had the advantage against her, the WereLynn too frightened by the silver weapon to get close enough to fight. The young man wasn't sure how he would stack up to a real vampire, but he wasn't about to let him hurt the girl he loved either. He nodded to the snake lady, grabbing his bat and running into the fray. The egocentric bloodsucker managed to kick Lynn to the ground, raising the dagger with hopes of finishing this. His hopes were interrupted when Francisco swung his back into the vampire's wrist. He struck with enough force to shatter the wooden club, causing him to drop the knife. While this disarmed the vampire, it didn't hurt him much. If anything, it just pissed him off. He glared at the human boy before backhanding him clear across the clearing. His distraction cost him, as it gave the werewolf girl a chance to get back up and pounce on him. She punched him in the face with one hand and clawed the same face with the other.

"You mangy mongrel!" He yelled, shoving the raging lycan off him. "How dare you scr-!" He was cut off when Lynn roundhouse kicked him across the face, followed by a right to the breadbasket, and a left elbow to the jaw. He staggered away from her, holding his face. "Agh! I was speaking, you furry piece of rubbish!"

"So what!? You think this is your dumb show!? You tried to kill me, and threatened my friend and sister!" Lynn snapped in rage, swiping at him again. This time, Nostufaro has the sense to dodge from her attack, and the next one. "...and you don't expect to get your hide handed to you for it!? You're an idiot!" The Loud athlete made a grab for his throat after yelling that. From up his sleeve, the vampire teen drew a silver plated letter opener. Not a great weapon, but sharp enough to slash through Lynn's Jersey and force her back out of reflex.

"At least I have the brains to have a back up...now die!" He lunged at her, only to be swiped aside by a thick serpentine tail. Nostufaro was thrown aside from the impact, Kaspa pursuing in an attempt to smash him with her tail again. He managed to roll out of the way and spring to his feet. The moment he turned to face her, she was gazing at him with her entrancing gaze. Being a vampire and therefore very difficult to enchant in this manner, he easily threw it off. However, he couldn't throw off Lynn's fist in his face. He stumbled back in pain, giving the Loud lycan an opening to get in behind him and grab him in a full nelson.

"He's all yours, Kas." Lynn told her with a smirk. The serpenteen grinned in return, cracking her knuckles.

"You lay so much as another hand on me and I'll-"

"Shut up." Kaspa interrupted him, holding either side of his face and forcing him to keep his eyes open. She then gave him a point blank dose of her alluring stare. Nostufaro fought with all his will, but eventually, he had no choice but to succumb to her hypnotic gaze. "That's more like it...now...what to do with you…?"

Not far away, the trolls were starting to get back up and were regrouping. While the group had them outnumbered, they were far out muscled, even with Crunch's help. He tried to keep the monstrous muscle at bay with his spiked flail, but they continued to advance. "Don't suppose anyone else has any tricks left?" Luna Loud asked as they all back away from the four trollkin (one was still being pummeled by the animated tree).

"Fraid not, Luna…" Albert replied.

"Don't have enough reagents for anything big…" Thorne admitted.

"Open to suggestions at this point…" The scarlet haired Luna commented, wrenches at the ready. Just when it seemed like they were going to have to try and fight them all at once, a strange sound filled the clearing. The sound of large, flapping wings, like a giant bat. All eyes went to the sky just in time to see a helicopter with large bat wings instead of blades drop a large, heavy net right onto the quartet of monster goons.

"I say, need a lift, fellows?" Brunch snarked from the controls of the bat-copter, lifting the captured trolls into the air. Once airborne, he started to spin the copter around, causing the net and its captives to spin with it. "I toss some trolls up in the air…" He sang as he pressed the release button, sending all four trolls flying through the air in a random direction. "...and where they land, I do not care."

"Great timing up there, Mr Brunch!" Albert called out as the hunchback landed the bat copter.

"Did...you have that this whole time?" Luna Loud inquired, a little surprised.

"Indeed. However, Dracula made it clear we were to keep a low profile. Given the circumstances, however, I felt it was necessary to bring it out."

"Hmmm. Yeah, I could see that." The rock and roll Loud replied. Kaspa slithered over to the group as Lynn ran to check out Francisco.

"Are you ok, Franc?" She asked him as helped him up, noticing the big red mark on his face.

"Yeah...I've definitely felt worse." He replied, rubbing his cheek a bit.

"Heh. Maybe this will help it feel better." Lynn leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, both of them blushing quite a lot.

"Hehehe...it kinda did. Thanks." He said bashfully. The two of them started to get kind of lost in each other's eyes for a moment.

"Don't mean to break up this adorable scene…" Kaspa commented with a soft smile, which snapped them back into reality and made them blush even more. "...but the race?"

"Right…" Lynn said with a chuckle. "About two thirds there...and that four legged creep probably swiped the lead. Better double time it."

"You better get moving too, Kas." Francisco pointed out.

"I dunno...they may disqualify me."

"Disqualify you? Crazy legs kicked two competitors and bypassed an entire section of the race, those witches tried to hex me and each other, and Fangs over there used one of the other runners as a projectile, not to mention kidnapping!" Lynn exclaimed, gesturing to where Nostufaro used to be. "I don't think they even HAVE rules in this race."

"You have a point there…but nevermind me at the moment. You get going, Lynn." The fur bearing sister nodded before she bolted off in a blur, headed back to the course.

* * *

Back on the track and several yards ahead, Zeral was running like his unlife depended on it, his face turning red from the effort. As near as he knew, his mangy opponent was well ahead of him, so he needed to catch up, even if it killed him...again. Some distance behind her, Lynn had gotten back onto the path set for the race and was now making up for lost time. Within a matter of seconds, her opponent came into her sight, just as they started to circle Dracula's castle. None of Cerano's hired help dared to set up any kind of traps here, as the vampire lord's servants would no doubt rat them out, so Zeral was on his own there. When they were halfway to Morris Woods, the ghoul felt his new leg go completely stiff from cramps, leaving him running on only three legs. He was pushing himself way too hard, and it was coming back to bite him now. This was the opening Lynn needed to close the gap, sprinting forward. However, she didn't have enough energy to pass him completely. The marathon was taking its toll on her as well. Even with the opportunities she took to reserve her energy and a few moments rest here and there, the pressure applied by her undead opponent sapped her own endurance over time. However, she knew that her opponent had been firing on all cylinders this whole time. He had to be running on fumes by this point, while she still had some gas left in the tank. The two were neck and neck when they entered the pitch dark woods. "What's with all these forests around Dracula's Castle?" Lynn inquired, not really asking anyone; more just thinking out loud.

"What's...the matter, Fuzzy...scared of the dark?" Zeral panted with a smirk as visibility dropped. Fortunately for both of them, ghouls and werewolves had very good night vision, so the darkness didn't have that much impact on them.

"Number one, not talking to you. Number two, heck no!"

"Well, you should be. Legend has it Morris Woods is cursed." He told her in an attempt to unnerve her.

"A curse, huh? Horrible night for one…" She commented quietly. She wasn't intimidated by his mind game, however. After her recent relapse, she didn't intend to fall prey to superstitions again. Inside the pitch darkness of the forest, however, there was a hazard; a pack of them in fact. Cerano's summoned help were hidden among the trees, watching out for them. The moment the ghoul and werewolf had come into view, they put their plan into action. Using their special brand of magic, they bent the branches of the trees and waited. As soon as Lynn came into range, the limb snapped back, right toward her face. Fortunately, the Loud werewolf had fast enough reflexes to duck. Unfortunately, it slowed her down enough for Zeral to gain a small lead. Even less fortunately, every few steps she took, a new branch took a swing at her, while Zeral's path was unimpeded.

* * *

"...ok. You literally cannot ignore that!" Lori snapped at the race organizer in the VIP box.

"Whatever do you mean, Miss Loud?" Cerano asked with a look of surprise.

"Those trees are ONLY attacking Lynn. Not a single swing went in the other guy's direction." Lincoln elaborated, looking fit to be tied himself.

"And?"

"What do you mean, 'And?'!?" Lola roared, her face turning red. "That's cheating!"

"How is it cheating? Who is cheating?" The prissy twin opened her mouth to scream again, but nothing came out. No one could be seen on the screens manipulating the tree limbs. "You see? It's just bad luck."

"...I'll give you bad luck…" Lucy growled under her breath, sitting in a cross legged position, muttering under her breath.

* * *

The whole way through the pitch dark woods, Lynn had to duck, dodge and flip her way through thrashing branches, while Zeral had a clear path all the way through. This was clearly unfair, and the Loud werewolf knew it. However, she knew she could catch back up with him easy enough and, if he had a hand in this, it would bite him in the tail later. At the last couple feet before she could reach the Sinking Sand Plains, one of the quasits hidden in the trees decided to pull a fast on and cause one of the roots to rise from the ground. She wasn't ready for that and tripped on it, causing her to fall and twist her ankle. She winced in pain, but she couldn't give up now. She got right back up and tested her foot for a moment. It hurt a lot to use it, but she could still use it, so off she went. When she left the ill lit woods, she could see that Zeral was a quarter of the way through the wide expanse of grass and murky looking sand. The ground looked stable, but the terrain was dotted with quicksand pits. Lynn took a moment to watch her opponent, noticing how he was following the routes mostly covered in grass. She decided to mirror his strategy, ignoring the pain in her ankle as she darted her way across the plains. About half way through, Zeral looked back to see Lynn trying to avoid the pits while catching up. He smirked, thinking he had this in the bag. His inattentiveness was his undoing, as he stepped right into a small, but deep pit of loose ground. His leg sank right into it, up to his waist. The ghoul gasped and struggled to pull himself out. However, the quicksand had a tight grip on him and his frantic movements were causing him to sink faster. "I said it before and I'll say it again...karma's a witch, isn't it?" Lynn muttered with a snicker as she not only caught up with him, but passed him.

"Lynn!" He cried out to her. "Wait! Help me, please!" He exclaimed desperately. The Loud werewolf skidded to a stop, looking at him. Her first instinct would have been to just leave him there. After everything he's done, he deserved to stew in the sand for a while. However, the spirit of fair play won out again, so against her better judgement, she went back to him.

"Alright, alright...just keep calm and take my hand…" She told him, kneeling by the sinking sand and holding out a hand. The four legged zombie grabbed her arm with both hands as Lynn pulled with all her strength, freeing him from the suction of the pit after a few seconds.

"Phew...thanks a lot…" He said after a sigh of relief once he got all four legs back on solid ground. Just then, a cruel smirk stretched across his face as he grabbed her by her hair and thrust her face first into the quicksand. "...sucker!" He screamed as he continued to push the kicking and screaming werewolf into the mire, until it was just her sneakers and a bit of her tail sticking out.

* * *

It was an absolute uproar back at the starting line. Everyone was positively outraged by what Zeral had just pulled. Not just the Louds, their friends, and Dracula. Even the monsters and residents of Transylvania voiced their absolute disgust. Razortooth himself looked ready to literally bite Cerano's head off right there and then. Lynn Sr had fainted from what he had witnessed, and Rita was in a state of stunned horror as Lynn's feet and tail sank below the surface of the sinking sands. Bubbles rose to the top of the pit for a few seconds before they stopped altogether. Most of Lynn's sisters looked ready to cry, and Lincoln and Lucy's magical auras were flaring as a result of their rage. However, after a few seconds of nothing, the surface of the quicksand burst, Lynn's muck covered head emerging as she took a deep gasp of air. "Look!" Leni exclaimed, pointing to the screen. The ponytailed athlete was crawling out of the pit, being helped by three piles of muck who were also emerging.

* * *

"Cough cough...whoever you are...thanks…" She gasped after she was freed from the pit.

"No worries, Lynn." A familiar high pitched voice replied as one of the mounds of wet sand wiped the muck off his face. It was Shrieko. And right beside him were Meeko and Freako, clearing the quick sand off them. "We couldn't just let you drown in quicksand. That would have really sunk. Get it? Nyuk nyuk nyuk!" The leader of the Boo Brothers simply glared at him before backhand smacking his goofball brother right back into the pit.

"Yer welcome, kid. Now get a move on and show that mook that cheaters don't prosper." Freako told her, pointing in the direction of the finish line. The WereLynn nodded before she shook the slime off her and dashed off as fast as her twisted ankle would allow. Up ahead, Zeral was starting to approach the finish line, showboating a bit by slowing down and waving to the spectators standing on the sidelines with a cocky smile. If he was expecting cheers and praise, he was sorely mistaken, as everyone present was booing and hissing at him like he was the second coming of Snidely Whiplash. He didn't care however. As far as he was concerned, he won and that was all that mattered. He was so busy trying to work the crowd, he didn't see his furry opponent closing in face, a look of furious determination on her face as she jetted across the path. The moment she came into view, the crowd started to cheer. This snapped Zeral out of his cockiness long enough to look back. His heart nearly started again when he saw Lynn running like the wind. He zipped toward the finish line just as she caught up with him. His sudden move caused Lynn to brush against him as the two ran as fast as they could for the finish. They appeared to be neck and neck, all of their legs and both sets of lungs on fire as they ran on pure adrenaline until they both finally crossed the line with a wave of the checkered flag and a flash. Zeral collapsed on the ground, almost dead again from exhaustion, while Lynn limped to the nearest bench, cringing as she finally got off her now swollen ankle.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have ourselves a photo finish!" Vanna Pira declared as the photographer picked up the digital camera and ran over to the race officials to deliberate on a winner. This gave both contestants time to rest, the Louds, Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy Doo, Dracula and his brides all hurrying down to check on the werewolf girl, while Cerano helped his cousin up.

"Junior, are you alright!?" A frantic Lynn Sr asked, borderline in tears.

"I'll live, Dad…" She replied as the cyclops nurse from the hospital checked over her ankle and applied some ice to it. "Which is more than I can say for Crazy Legs once I can get up again…"

"Don't worry, Lynn...he'll get his just desserts, just like Cerano." Lincoln told her, patting her on the back.

"Great race, Lynn." Lori told her.

"You ran with honor and integrity." Lucy dead panned.

"You took the vords right out of my mouth, Lucy." Count Dracula agreed with a nod and a smile.

"No way you didn't take first." Scrappy voiced his opinion.

"Thanks everyone...but now, it's all a matter of what the judges say…" She said, looking back at the huddle of black coats and tall top hats. It seemed to be a very tense debate, lasting several minutes. A couple of the other racers had started to cross before they seemed to come to a final decision: Kaspa, Bolten Jr, surprisingly Forrestor (rushing in right behind the reanimated teen, moving even faster than Lynn had earlier), and the two faced goblin boy. The werewolf's jaw dropped when she saw the jogging ghost suddenly stop in front of her. "Whoa...you could move like that this whole time!?"

"Yep." He commented simply.

"Then...why didn't you run like that from the start? You could have won!"

"Yeah, but like I said, I like moving at my own pace. I only really run when I feel I have to." He explained with a shrug and a smile as he walked lazily over to the stands to lean against it and watch the race finish. "Besides, I'm here for the fun, not the win."

"The judges have come to a decision!" The raven haired bride of Dracula declared, getting the attention of everyone. "After much deliberation and examining the photo…" The image of the last moment of the race suddenly appeared on the screen. Really, it looked WAY too close to call. "...the judges have all agreed that the winner, by a toe, is...Lynn Loud Jr!" She exclaimed, the image expanding to show Lynn's sneaker just barely ahead of Zeral. The area exploded with cheers as the Loud family all went in for a big group hug, Lynn raising her arms in celebration. The Hex Girls' bus had just arrived, along with the bat copter. Francisco had vaulted from the bus before it could be put into park, dashing across the ground to give Lynn a big hug and congratulate her on her victory. Luna and Albert had just joined them in the group hug when Cerano started slowly clapping himself. That brought everything to a halt as he slowly approached Lynn, wearing that dirtbag smile nobody trusted.

"Well done, Miss Loud. Very well done indeed." He said calmly. "...is what I'd like to say. However, Vanna, I'm afraid the judges are somewhat mistaken."

"I don't like the sound of that…" Francisco commented, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"You see, Miss Loud...you violated the rules." The well to do ghoul started to explain. "...by being involved in a collision."

"A collision? What collision!?" The Loud werewolf snapped angrily.

"Let us review the footage, shall we?" He gestured toward the large view screen. It showed the moment when Zeral had started running again to try and reach the finish line before Lynn. The moment she barely brushed against him.

"You call that a collision!? I didn't even feel it happen!"

"Unfortunately for you, Zeral did, and that is against the rules."

"I didn't do it on purpose!"

"I'm sure you didn't, but I'm going to have to penalize you regardless."

"You can't be serious…" The oldest of the Loud sisters said in utter disbelief. "You've ignored sooo much blatent cheating...like when your cousin nearly killed that doll girl AND Lynn...but NOW you want to penalize someone!?"

"Miss Loud, what Zeral did was not against the rules. What Lynn did was." Cerano responded simply with a smug smile.

"Unfortunately, he is quite correct…" Lisa said in defeat, her nose right in the rule book.

"So, as I was saying, I will have to deliver a few seconds penalty to Miss Lynn Loud. As a result, I believe that means the true winner of the first annual Monster Marathon...is Zeral." The Loud family (minus Lynn and Lisa) all exploded at that, every one of them screaming at Cerano. Even Lucy, and she rarely, if ever, screamed. It was such a cacophony that it was impossible who was saying what. Lynn just sat on the bench with a look of disbelief on her face. She lost first place? Because of a damn technicality!? It almost caused her brain to shut down entirely. "Please, sirs and madams...you must understand, rules are rules. Accept the loss with dignity, like your daughter and sister." He said, adding insult to injury as he gestured to Lynn. "Now, if you'll excuse me...Zeral and I are wanted in the winner's circle." He concluded, turning on his heel and walking away with his cousin, who was patting him on the back.

"That...that wasn't fair!" Leni yelled, stamping her foot in frustration.

"He only cared about the rules when it benefited that jerk!" Lana snapped furiously.

"Lynn...I am so sorry…" Her mother said, trying to comfort her daughter as tears started to fill the werewolf girl's eyes.

"...don't worry, Mom…" She replied, choking back tears. "...it was just a stupid race anyway…"

"It's still not right…" Lincoln complained. If he had the energy, he probably would have blasted Cerano with whatever spell he could think of, and hang the consequences. Lisa was absolutely silent as she rapidly flipped through the rulebook, quickly scanning each page.

"Vin or not, it does not mean he vill be exempt from the consequences of everything he has done." Dracula growled. "But it bothers me greatly his cousin still benefits from a dirty victory…"

"...perhaps not." Lisa said suddenly. "Count Dracula, have a look at this. I could use a second opinion." She held the book closer to the vampire lord, pointing to the passage she had found. He looked it over for a moment, a pensive look on his face before he smirked.

"You know, you may be on to something, Miss Loud." That was all the encouragement she needed as the four year old genius ran after the two ghouls.

"Mr Rotters, a moment of your time, if you please." Cerano slowly looked back at her, sighing in annoyance.

"What is it this time, Miss Loud? We've already covered-"

"I do not wish to retread old ground, Mr Rotters. You were quite correct, as I said. A collision, even one as minor as the one depicted, is still a collision."

"Well, I am pleased to hear someone in the family who respects the rules." The well to do ghoul said with a smirk, turning to fully face Lisa.

"Oh, I do. But I think there may be a rule you overlooked yourself." Lisa told him calmly, adjusting her glasses and wiping the smirk from his face. "Page 23, paragraph 3, subsection B clearly states that any contestant of the Monster Marathon who takes the opportunity to aid another constant at risk to their life and limbs would be given a bonus to make up for lost time. Correct?"

"...yeeees." Cerano cautiously replied.

"Alright. Then, might I point out three incidents in which Lynn was responsible for saving one of her competitors from a dangerous situation?" She turned her attention to the view screen. "The first, being when she caught the two faced gentleman after the vampire chap used him as a projectile to harm her." A clip of when the werewolf girl caught the goblin boy shortly after the start. "The second when she rescued the ambulatory doll from Moray Bay." Once more, Lynn's rescue of Talking Tina played on the main screen. "And finally, when she pulled your own cousin from the quicksand pit."

"Actually, there was one more rescue you didn't mention." Kaspa piped up. "Lynn came to save me when Nostufaro used me as bait in a trap."

"Oh, come now...do you really expect us-"

"She speaks the truth, Cerano." Dracula intervened, stepping closer to the arrogant undead man. "I heard the confession from Zervan, head of the Leatherwing Clan, myself." He leaned in a bit before growling furiously, but quietly. "...among other things." He then followed up at normal volume. "...Nostufaro had arranged an ambush for Miss Loud, in order to take her out of the race." Mr Rotters started to sweat now, growing more and more nervous.

"Well then...I believe that all of these acts of heroism more than make up for such a minor infraction...wouldn't you say?" Lisa finished, a slight smile on her face as she looked up at the grown wight. Cerano simply stood there, his mouth agape. He didn't have a counter for that. He never even expected that to come up.

"I believe he does agree, Miss Loud." Dracula said with a grin of his own. "So it is you who was mistaken, Mr Rotters. The true winner is Miss Lynn Loud Jr." Once more, a chorus of cheers sounded, with Lori and Francisco lifting Lynn off her bench and out of her momentary melancholy in celebration. As the reality of her deserved victory hit her, she smiled brightly as she was carried to the cheery vampiress holding the Monster Marathon cup, Vanna presenting the trophy to her. The werewolf girl looked at the shiny platinum surface, seeing the reflection of her tired face for a moment before she smiled even more widely and thrust the trophy up for everyone to see, getting another round of cheers from the audience.


	14. Chapter 14

_AN: This took me a lot longer than I would have liked, and I'm still not toward the end to just add an epilogue after this, so it doesn't take even more time to complete. Also, sorry in advance if the end feels rushed._

* * *

Winners and Losers

"Congratulations, Miss Loud. You are the winner of the Monster Marathon!" Vanna Pira chirped, as Cerano Rotters trembled in building fury. "In addition to the Marathon cup, you have also won a cruise of the beautiful and mysterious Bermuda Triangle, for you and your whole family!" She continued, pulling an envelope with a few cruise tickets in it. She looked between the envelope, then the whole Loud clan. "Oh. I guess we're going to need a lot-"

"NO!" Cerano finally bellowed to the heavens, making everyone sans Lucy and Vlad jump. "No! I can't believe it!" He proceeded to rage about, turning with a piercing glare to Lisa. He took a few steps toward her, but her siblings moved between the toddler and the threatening ghoul. "Do you know what you've done to me, you little brat!?"

"She saved your miserable neck is what she did." Mr Thrasher said dangerously, practically breathing down Cerano and Zeral's neck. The not so well to do ghoul shiver on terror as he slowly turned.

"Wh..what do you mean, Mr Thrasher?"

"I bet on Lynn, not your fat headed cousin." He told him.

"You...you what?"

"You bet...on me?" Lynn inquired, caught completely off guard by this. Luna and Dracula never told her about this.

"Yes...after an...incident involving Zeral with a broken leg, Cerano ended up without enough money to possibly pay me what he owes. So, to save himself my wrath, he suggested I bet on his cousin." The shark man explained, looking toward Lynn and her family. "He was convinced Zeral was a sure win, and Transylvania seemed to agree. His odds were 2 to 1. Miss Lynn's, however, were 50 to 1."

"Wait...seriously!? Fifty to one!? I'm insulted…"

"They didn't know what you were capable of, unlike myself. So I went with what seemed the long shot, and it paid off in spades." He then turned back to Cerano. "Lucky for you, Cerano. You're off the hook...but rest assured...we will not be doing business again." He huffed a bit as he turned away from Mr Rotters and started to leave. However, he paused by the Loud family, looking over at them and pulling a business card from his jacket. "By the way; if you ever happen to be looking for property here in Transylvania, look me up. I would be overjoyed to help you with a loan."

"Er...thank you, Mr Thrasher." Rita said nervously as she took his card.

"Speaking of business…" Lynn started, facing Mr Rotters. "I ran your race, Mr Rotters. Now tell me how I can change back!" The once well to do ghoul slowly moved to meet her gaze.

"Change you back?"

"Yes! You said you would!"

"Hmmm. I suppose I did. However, I'm afraid this is where your luck runs out, Miss Loud." Cerano informed her, his smug expression returning.

"What do you mean?" Albert demanded to know. "You said you would help her change back if she ran your race! I thought you said you were a ghoul of your word!?"

"I did indeed say that. However, there is no way to change her back. Well, no ways she would survive that is." He said with a cruel chuckle. The Louds, Francisco, Kaspa, and the brides of Dracula all glared daggers at him, clearly not trusting his word. "Don't take my word for it...Vlad, what do you have to say about this?"

"...I am afraid I have yet to find a method of returning Miss Loud to normal myself…" The vampire lord confessed, looking and sounding remorseful of that fact. This news brought the mood of everyone present down, making things much more somber as it seemed Lynn may be stuck as a lycan.

"You see. There just isn't any way to change her back from being a werewolf." The underhanded undead man commented, more smug than ever.

"That, Mr Rotters, is a blatant lie." Came a voice none of the Royal Woods residents had heard before. Cerano and Dracula, however, each averted their attention to this familiar newcomer: a dirty, disheveled and irked Dr. Jeckyl.

"Oh crap…" Cerano muttered under his breath.

"Dr Jeckyl? Vhat happened to you, my friend?" Dracula inquired, looking very surprised at the state of the good doctor.

"I fear Mr Hyde had taken my body on what the kids would call the mother of all benders...it was only recently I was able to regain control." The usually prim and proper doctor explained, approaching the scene with as much dignity as he could, looking like a bum.

"Mr Hyde? How did he take over? I thought you had more control over him?"

"I had, Count. However, Mr Rotters here force fed me the formula to change me when I initially refused to supply him with lycanthrope tainted blood."

"Fink…" Cerano growled quietly before looking to his cousin and making a quick signal with his hand.

"At any rate, curing one whose blood has been contaminated with lycanthrope is actually sublimely simple." Dr Jeckyl continued, his attention now upon Lynn. "The reintroduction of the original taint will have a neutralizing effect on the curse, rendering it null."

"Uh...can I have that again in english, Doc?" The Were Loud asked, a little lost.

"Ah. My apologies. I mean you have to bite the werewolf that bit you." He reiterated in simpler terms.

"But...she wasn't bitten." Leni pointed out.

"Very true, young lady, but that hardly matters. The principle is still the same. The curse of the lycan enters her bloodstream and causes the transformation. As a result, it becomes a part of the body, much like a transplanted organ or transfused blood."

"I think I understand, Doctor." Lisa spoke up, rubbing her chin a bit. "And by reintroducing the original contamination, it would attempt to destroy the adapted taint, and vice versa, effectively destroying each other and therefore the curse."

"Precisely, young lady." The good doctor said with a smile. "Granted, it only works on those who were forcibly infected with lycanthrope. Those born werewolves cannot be changed back...but I digress. In order to change Miss Loud back, she has to bite the werewolf whose blood she was injected with."

"...yeah, that's gonna be easy…" Lynn said sarcastically. "Not saying I don't appreciate the help, doc, but finding the werewolf whose blood I was given...it'd be like finding a needle in a haystack."

"Under normal circumstances, yes. However, Mr Rotters had gotten the blood from my lab." Dr Jeckyl continued, not at all put off by Lynn's tone. "I keep careful records of where and from whom I get my samples from. I know exactly where to find said lycan." He told her. "And before you even ask, yes, I would be more than happy to assist you in locating him." He added just as she opened her mouth.

"Thank you so much, Dr Jeckyl." Rita said with a sigh and a grateful smile.

"All that remains...is Mr Rotters' puni-" Dracula started to say, but the moment he turned to face Mr Rotters, he found the ghoul and his cousin already jumping into his limo before driving off. "Hey!"

"He's getting away!" Lori shouted, pointing at the fleeing vehicle.

"Hunch Bunch! After them!" Dracula barked out, the hunchback duo taking back off to pursue the fleeing deadheads.

"Let's get them!" Lynn shouted, about to leap off Lori and Francisco's arms.

"Oh no you don't." Lynn Sr said sternly, grabbing her hand. "Not on that ankle."

"And don't you even think about it either, Lincoln." Rita commented when she noticed Lincoln hand Lily to Leni. "You've used far too much magic as it stands."

""Your parents are right, kids." Thorne said, putting a hand on Lynn's shoulder. "This is something best left to the...uh...proper authorities?"

"...I suppose so…" Lynn responded with a frustrated sigh. "I hope they manage to catch those clowns…"

"Like, speaking of clowns...has anyone seen the Boo Brothers?" Shaggy inquired, realizing the ghostly trio were absent. In fact, no one had seen them since they had rescued Lynn.

* * *

"This has been an absolute disaster…" Mr Rotters growled, punching the leather cushion beside him. "Thanks to that werewolf, I am practically bankrupt, my reputation is floundering, and now Vlad is going to be annoying me for ages…"

"How do you think I feel?" Zeral responded grumpily, his head in his hands. "The unbeatable Fleetfoot...lost to a nobody...I'm ruined…"

"Well, she isn't going to get away with doing that to us, cousin." Cerano said in a dangerous tone. "We're going to ruin her in return!" He punched his own fist into his other hand with a sneer.

"How?"

"We prevent her from ever becoming human again...by hunting down the werewolf whose blood I used to change her to begin with!" He explained loudly. He probably would have started cackling maniacally, but his evil glee was interrupted by the sound of flapping wings. He looked back through the rear window to see the bat copter hot on their heels, Brunch and Crunch glaring at them through the cockpit. "The Hunch Bunch? Oh, don't tell me THAT check bounced! That's the last thing I need…" He groaned. "Driver, lose them!" The moment he said that, the limo started to swerve and fishtail all over the road. Fortunately, almost everyone was at the marathon, so no one was hurt, though several trash cans, rain barrels and outdoor cafe furniture was destroyed. Not only that, but the two ghoulish cousins were badly shaken up.

"What do you think you're doing, you clown!" Zeral snapped, pushing the button to lower the glass barrier between them and the driver. However, what they found was a tall, thin ghost with an aviator cap on his head and a big red nose on his pointed one. He turned his head to grin at them.

"Hiya fellas. Not bad for a guy what never had a lesson, eh? Nyuk nyuk nyuk!" Shrieko chuckled as his brothers popped up into view.

"Thank you for riding with Boo Brother's Transportation Services." Freako said in a customer service rep voice. "Your next destination: Palookaville, just short of rock bottom." With that, Shrieko turned the limo sharply, turning it down a dead end road.

"My word, what are they doing?" Brunch wondered aloud as he watched the insane driving. "The only thing down that road is a solid stone wall…"

Cerano ran toward the chauffer's window and dove through it, forcing the Boo Brothers to scatter, phasing out of the limo. The cheating ghoul grabbed the wheel and barely managed to 180 the limo before it could hit the wall. The wheels were badly worn from the spin, but he had regained control. "Ha! Nice try you ectoplasmic cretins, but I am fully capable of driving my own vehicle!" He gloated loudly out the window.

"Ah bat feathers!" Freako exclaimed, tossing his hat to the ground as the limo sped away. "We're gonna lose him!"

"I don't think so…" Shrieko sang with a big grin.

"...nice move, cuz." The four legged ghoul said, giving his cousin a high five.

"Thanks. It was closer than I would like, but it worked out ni-" He paused a moment when he noticed an empty jar in the seat beside him. "...where'd that come from?"

"Who cares? We're home fr-" Just then, the car started accelerating at a horrifying rate. "W...Wha...What are you doing!?"

"I'm not!" Cerano exclaimed in a panic, his foot tapping the gas pedal in the hopes it was simply stuck. It made no difference whatsoever. "Something's wrong with the gas." He then stamped his foot on the brakes, but the pedal had no effective. "The brakes too!"

"Try the emergency brake!" Cerano's cousin suggested desperately. The ghoul with the goatee pulled hard on the lever...and it came out of its place as if it had been disconnected on the inside. With no way of stopping, Cerano tried to turn down the main street. However, the steering wheel just came right off the column, which itself just fell apart. The two ghouls just stared helplessly at the wheel in his hand just as the hood popped up and the gremlin climbed to the top of it. He smiled lazily to them and waved before he pulled out a stick of tnt and a match. Cerano and Zeral both frantically shook their heads as the impish creature struck the light. He looked confusedly at them, shaking his own head questioningly. They nod in a hopeful manner in reply. The gremlin thinks about it for a moment, then shakes his head with a big grin before lighting the fuse and hurling the explosive under the hood.

"Ha ha ha ha ha haha!" The gremlin laughed before he jumped ship, leaving the two undead cousins screaming for their lives as the limo careened toward a building, with dynamite stuck under the hood. They braced themselves for the crash/explosion. Well, the dynamite did explode, destroying the engine and shattered the windshield, but didn't damage much of the car beyond that. The blast also slowed the car down, to the point where it ended up drifting into the nearest building, tapping the wall with the twisted wreck of a nose. The two ghouls slowly opened their eyes and started to laugh as the realization hit them that they were alright. Then the airbag deployed, launching Cerano's head back right into Zeral's, knocking them both out and knocking the shamed runner to the floor of the car too. The Boo Brothers flew over to the wreck vehicle, Shrieko picking up the gremlin as the Hunch Bunch landed.

"Good work, little buddy." Shrieko said, patting the little imp's head.

"Unorthodox, but effective." Brunch commented with a snicker.

"Blat was breat! Blet's do it blagain!" Crunch said excitedly.

"Now now, old boy. No need to overdo it." His sophisticated friend said, patting his shoulder. "Now let's grab them before they try to bail again."

"Agreed." Freako said, pulling the door open to pull the unconscious Zeral, while Crunch dragged Cerano out of the front seat.

* * *

Back with the Louds and all of their friends, they were all headed back to Castle Dracula, courtesy of the Count and the Hex Girls. As it was getting very late (to the point where even Lucy could hardly keep her eyes open), Dracula offered to let the Loud family and the others stay at the castle for the evening. They could celebrate Lynn's victory and seek out the original werewolf the next day. However, while everyone else was heading up to the guest rooms of the castle, Dracula stopped Lincoln by stepping into his path. This kind of confused the white haired boy as he looked up at the vampire lord. "I am sure you are tired, Lincoln, but before you head to your room, my dear brides vould like a moment of your time to meet you." He said calmly. The middle Loud was somewhat surprised and rather afraid. He had been terrified meeting Sibella's father for the first time, and he was just one powerful, protective vampire. Now he was about to meet four powerful and possibly protective vampiresses. However, he couldn't/wouldn't refuse them, lest he risk upsetting all of them.

"O...ok. Certainly." Lincoln replied nervously. Vlad nodded with a small smile as he escorted the slight shaking young man to the drawing room where the four wives of Dracula were waiting. He nudged Lincoln into the room and shut the door behind him, waiting on the other side (he wanted to remain nearby just in case the meeting went south for whatever reason). The moment the eleven year old warlock came into view, three of the brides immediately turned their steely gazes toward him. The only one who didn't turn to look at him was Vanna, who seemed to be busy with something. The young Loud gulped in fear as the three vampiresses seemed to float over to him, standing over him like three towering citadels. "G...Good evening, l...ladies." He stammered, trying his best to be polite. He could have swore he saw the mouth of the blonde haired vampire bride twitch, but otherwise, none of them even reacted. That is, until Vanna heard his voice. She turned from what she was doing, saw the young man and a big smile appeared on her face.

"Why, hello there." Vanna chirped as she swooped over to the young man. "You must that nice young man our dearest Sibella told us about. Lindon? Leonard?"

"Lincoln. Lincoln Loud." He replied, blushing a bit as the black haired vampire lady knelt down in front of him for a better look at him, a sweet smile on her face.

"Yes. Lincoln. You're just as Sibella described you." She continued, ruffling his white hair a little. "...except you're even cuter." She cooed, making the human boy blush bright red and chuckle. This caused Camilla and her brunette fellow bride to break their more serious facades, smile and move in at either side of Lincoln. They weren't quite doting on him like Vanna was; they made a few comments about how handsome he was, the brunette complimenting his white hair, and bombarding him with questions.

"How did you get your hair like that?"

"Is it naturally white or do you have a special regiment?"

"Did you really take a stake for our darling daughter?"

"And fight that horrible monster hunter?"

"Ladies!" The blonde haired vampiress said sternly, getting the attention of her fellow brides. "First off, give the child room. Humans need to breathe, after all." The three brides looked up at her and, reluctantly, moved away from the young man. Then she strode forward and knelt down to his level, firmly (and somewhat painfully) grabbing his shoulder and glaring right into his eyes. The one son found himself freezing up under her gaze, his eyes locked onto hers. The vampiress just silently stared into his eyes, neither of them moving so much as an inch. Then, she smiled slightly. "Hmmm. I think I see it now."

"See what, ma'am?"

"What Sibella sees in you, young man." She answered, loosening her grip. "I can see it in your eyes. Inner strength, a strong mind, a good heart...doesn't hurt that you're rather charming." She added, her smile growing some more. "I'm sorry if I scared you, Lincoln, but the best way I know to get to know someone...is by looking them right in the eyes."

"R..really?" She nodded to the young man.

"If you know how to look, you can read a person like a book though their eyes." She explained, tapping her face just beside her eyes. "But I believe introductions are long overdue. I am Verona." She said, placing a hand on her chest. "And this is Camilla." She gestured to the red headed vampiress. "Aleera…" The brown haired woman nodded with a smile. "And Vanna Pira."

"Hello." Vanna said with a bright smile.

"Lincoln Loud. A pleasure to meet all of you." The white haired Loud responded, holding a hand out to Verona. Her smile changed to a smirk as she simply put her hand in his: just as Sibella had when they first met. He had a feeling this would happen. He held her hand up and gave it a gentle kiss.

"Hmmm. Just like I saw, and just as Sibella said. A gentleman." The golden haired nosferatu said. "Now then, I believe the ladies have a few questions for you...and I have a few of my own."

* * *

The next morning, far out in the Swiss mountains, hidden inside a secluded cave in the frigid mountain range, a dark haired werewolf sat before a small fire. He was quite thin and scrawny, with hair so long it reached down to his tail. He had a morose look on his face as he stared at the flames. He had been hiding up in these mountains for months now, with very little to eat and almost no contact with anyone. Why? He had his reasons. However, today, he had company. While he was prodding the little fire, a cloud of smoke appeared at the entrance. When the smoke cleared, Count Dracula and Lynn Loud stood in its place. "Good morning…" The vampire lord said as he stepped between Lynn and the werewolf.

"You know...it's usually considered polite to knock first." The werewolf said in a monotone tone. "Polite...and safer…"

"My apologies, but it was important ve locate you."

"I didn't want to be located…"

"I know. Dr Jeckyl told us." Vlad said, stepping closer to the werewolf. "And I understand. But Miss Loud needs your help."

"And why would anyone need the help of a natural born werewolf who can't change back to human at will!?"

"How about a werewolf who was forced to change?" Lynn piped up, stepping into view. The lone werewolf looked toward her, his eyes widening.

"You see, Miss Loud had been forcibly changed...vhen Mr Rotters used the blood you gave Dr Jeckyl to make her a werewolf." Dracula explained, glancing down at her.

"What!? That…that is just atrocious…" The lycan hermit gasped in horror. "You have my sorrow, child...but what can I do?"

"Simple. The good doctor told us that the curse of a lycan can be reversed in this case...if Lynn were to bite the werewolf whose blood infected her."

"Really? Then, could it possibly help me become human again!?" The stick thin werewolf asked, getting to his feet, a desperate look in his eyes.

"I'm afraid not. There is no cure for those born werewolves…" The Count said sadly, which seemed to take the wind out of the lycanthrope's sail.

"Figures...and I have no idea how to change on my own…"

"Why is that, Mister…?" Lynn asked curiously.

"...don't worry about my name, young miss. As for why...I never learned how…"

"Wait...I could learn to change back?"

"Once more, I'm afraid not." Dracula responded. "The rules are different between those inflicted with lycanthrope and those born with it. Only those born with it can change back at will."

"Still...at least you have a chance to become human again…" The dark furred monster said, holding out his arm. "...and as it was my blood that's responsible, the least I can do is give you your chance."

"Thanks...gotta say, I'm gonna miss being a werewolf." The athletic Loud admitted as she stepped forward.

"Just please...make it quick...for your sake." The Loud werewolf nodded, baring her fangs.

"Sorry in advance." She said as she sank her teeth into his arm. The loner werewolf cringed in pain. The moment she released him from her teeth, she felt a sharp pain all over her body. Pain so harsh that she was wincing in agony and holding her stomach. Slowly, but surely, her fur started to sink back into her skin. Then her fangs shrank back into teeth, her claws back to fingernails. Finally, her tail shrank back into her back. "Ergh...I think it was even more painful the second time." She said as the pain finally subsided. She felt her face, bringing a smile to her face. "..but it worked! I'm human again!" She cheered. The scrawny werewolf didn't seem as happy as she was about this, however. In fact, he looked positively infuriated, growling and foaming at the mouth slightly.

"Lynn! Look out!" Dracula yelled, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her away just as the werewolf snapped at her.

"Whoa! What the…!?" The spunky teen was positively confused now. This guy was so nice before, but now he was being absolutely vicious.

"Lynn. Get out of here. Wait for me outside."The Count instructed her, gesturing toward the outside the cave. She didn't need telling twice as she ran toward cave exit. The lone lycan leapt toward her, but was intercepted by Count Dracula. He calmly stepped to the side in front of him, holding up his hand. The thin and shaggy monster slammed his face right into an invisible barrier before being blasted back further into the cave. As soon as Lynn was out of sight, her assailant seemed to calm down.

"...this is why I've been keeping myself out here…" He confessed, breathing heavily. "Seeing a human...makes me go mad…"

"As I said, I understand...you know, I know a number of verevolves. I could get you in touch with one of them." Dracula offered, still standing between him and the entry to the cave.

"I appreciate the offer, Count Dracula...but the one I really want to find...is my father. The one who was the reason I was born a werewolf."

"I see...I would strongly recommend dealing with that rage issue first...but it is your call." The vampire lord said, turning away from the tawny, scrawny werewolf. "I vish you the best of luck in your quest."

"Thank you...and please...do offer the young lady my apologies." The werewolf requested, before moving back over beside his fire.

"I shall. Good day to you." Dracula said, turning around and walking purposely out of the cave.

* * *

When Dracula and Lynn returned to break the good news, her family and friends were beyond thrilled. If they weren't ready to celebrate before, they were now. And wouldn't you know it? The Count is always ready for a party. Within an hour of their return, the celebration was well underway. It wasn't as big as the welcoming party for the race participants, but it looked like a very enjoyable time. The Hex Girls and Luna were rocking it out on the stage, and having a blast doing so. Out on the dance floor, Lynn was cutting a rug, with Kaspa and Francisco. She wasn't the only one either. Luan, Lola, Lana, Lori, Albert, Camilla, Shrieko, Freako and the Hunch Bunch were also busting a move. Of all of them, Lori probably looked the strangest, dancing with her cell phone in hand. However, anyone who knew her knew she was video chatting with Bobby, dancing with him in spite of the distance. "I love this music." Kaspa commented, swaying in time to the music like a snake to a charmer.

"Me too. I'm gonna have to see if Luna will loan me her Hex Girls cds when we get home." The ponytailed Loud said. The gorgon gal smiled over at the human teen girl. She thought she was much cuter as a werewolf, but she was still quite cute. A part of her thought it was a shame that she had eyes only for Francisco, but another part felt pleased that she helped (in a small way) them become official. After all, if Lynn was happy, that's all that mattered.

"You know, Francisco…" She said quietly, leaning in closer to whisper to him. "...you've got quite a girl there."

"Heh...yeah, I know." He replied quietly with a blush. "She's one of a kind." Kaspa nodded in agreement.

"She is...which is why I want you to do me a favor." She said, making the young man look at her in surprise. "Don't ever let her go." He blinked, then smiled and nodded. Kaspa smiled in return, saying nothing more on the matter as she returned to her dancing.

"You dance quite well, good sir." Camilla commented, watching Albert dance from the corner of her eye.

"Thanks, young lady. I may have a few years on me, but I can still move like folks half my age." He half bragged.

"A few years?" She inquired with a smirk. "Try a few hundred."

"A few hundred? You don't look a day over thirty."

"You flatter me, good sir. One of the perks of vampirism; the years don't add up like they used to." The scarlet haired vampiress told him. "It could be centuries before I show any signs of age."

"Is that so? That's handy."

"It is...but it does get old after a fashion, if you'll pardon the expression." She admitted. "Not that it stops us from trying to keep it interesting though."

Meanwhile, Lincoln was taking it easy over by the side, with Leni and Vanna, Lisa and Tina each chatting with one another respectively, and Lucy sitting with her older brother. Not that Lincoln really needed the rest, but after what happened the previous night, he thought he should just take it easy; especially since he still needed to teleport back to Grimwood's later. "So, Miss Tina...I must ask. How is it you can live like anyone else?"

"It is a fairly complicated thing to explain, Lisa." The living doll said in an attempt to deflect the question.

"Try me."

"Very well. Let's see. Well, for all intents and purposes, I am a simple doll, made of plastic, faux hair, and cloth. On the outside. On the inside, however, it is a complex combination of alchemical devices and simple machinery."

"Alchemy? Oh. You mean the fusion of science and magic. Lincoln had told me of that." The young genius said with a nod. "I have made a brief study of it when he let me borrow his textbook."

"Anyway, flowing through tubes and pipes in my body are liquid mercury, lead, silver and iron, fueling the key components keeping me alive: the ionized core, the component pump, and, the most important part, the energization matrix keeping the soul core in place."

"Soul core?"

"Long story...don't really want to go into it. Just...think of it like my heart."

"I see...and I assume you have some form of furnace within you to keep the liquid components from solidifying?"

"Oh yes. A very powerful, magical one that works as my stomach." She confirmed. "It's one of the key reasons I can't get wet. If that furnace goes out, I'm done for."

"That is a problem...but I think I could help alleviate that issue…" Lisa said as she pulled out a notebook, motioning Talking Tina over for a huddle.

"You know, Mr and Mrs Loud...You really do have quite the family." Count Dracula commented, watching as the others enjoyed themselves along with the Loud parents and little Lily.

"Don't we know it." Lynn Sr commented, smiling over at their kids.

"Such varied skills and personalities, but all sharing very strong vills and determination." The vampire lord said, looking at each of the Loud children in turn, before looking to the Loud mother. "But I think I can see vhere they get it from." Rita giggled a bit with a soft blush.

"Well, it really comes from both sides of the family." She told him, putting an arm around Lynn Sr, who smiled right at her.

"Yes, I can imagine. The man who can handle your ferocity and spirit must be made of solid steel." The Count said, getting a laugh from both parents.

"Still, I wish I could focus some of my ferocity on Mr Rotters." The Loud Mother said, a frown appearing on her face.

"Whatever did happen with him?" Lynn Sr inquired.

"You mean no one told you? The Hunch Bunch and Boo Brothers caught him and his cousin just the other night." Dracula said with a smirk. "They're currently residing in my own, personal dungeon as they avait trial."

"Thank goodness." The Loud patriarch said with a sigh. "I hope they both get what's coming to them."

"Vithout a doubt, Mr Loud." The vampire lord responded. "Just for the forced transformation on a minor, he could be locked up for years, especially if we can get Doctor Jeckyl and Morbus' testimony. Add on conspiracy to commit assault, attempted murder, attempting to rig a sporting event...I could go on all day...and I intend to at the trial." He snickered in a vindictive manner, Rita and Lynn Sr chuckling as well before they all went back to watching the others enjoying themselves at the party.

* * *

As the sun started to set and the party had winded down, the time had come for everyone to say goodbye. As the Hex Girls were going to be leaving from the same airport as the Louds, they offered to help them get to the airport. The grateful Loud family accepted, of course, as they didn't have any method of transport. They were standing outside the front of the front door, Sibella's father and her mothers standing before the large crowd of Louds, Francisco, and the Hex Girls. The Hunch Bunch was standing off to the side, with the Boo Brothers standing with Lincoln, Shaggy, and the Doos. Rita Loud was shaking Dracula's hand. "Thank you for everything, Count Dracula." Rita said, speaking for the rest of the family. "Your hospitality, protecting our daughter and son, going out of your way to help our daughter."

"It was my pleasure, Miss Loud." He said with a light bow of the head. "If you or your family are ever in Transylvania again, you're always welcome at my castle."

"Thank you, Count. I don't think we'll be back anytime soon, but we appreciate your offer." The Loud father said as he shook his hand as well. As they were saying their goodbyes, the Brides of Dracula moved over to Lincoln.

"Goodbye young man." Verona said, shaking Lincoln's hand. "We pray you have a safe trip home."

"Thank you, ma'am. And thank you all for everything you've done." He replied.

"You're welcome. And be sure to take good care of our dear Sibella." Vanna told him with her usual smile.

"Of course."

"And promise us all one thing." Camilla said, all four of them leaning in closer to him. The white haired boy tilted his head and leaned in as well.

"Promise us you'll name your first four girls with Sibella after us." Aleera told him quietly, making the young man blush deep red.

"Aren't you jumping the gun a little…?" He asked, thoroughly embarrassed, which made all four vampiresses giggle. "Between you and my Great Grandmother...wait. What makes you so sure we would even have that many children, when that time comes?" He asked as the thought crossed his mind. In answer, Verona simply turned her head to look at all of his sisters. He followed her gaze for a moment before looking back into her eyes and smirking face with a deadpan "Fair enough."

"Well, I guess this is goodbye for now." Lynn said as she and Kaspa gave one another a friendly goodbye hug.

"Yeah. I guess." The gorgon said, sounding kinda said.

"Doesn't mean we can't still talk though. Got a cell phone?" She asked, pulling out her own phone. The serpenteen smiled and nodded as she grabbed her cell and exchanged numbers with her.

"If you have HeadSpace, look me up there as well. When I start travel blogging or vlogging, whichever tickles my fancy, it'll be on there." She told her.

"I'll send a friend request as soon as I get home." The sporty sister said, giving her one last fist bump. "Keep running, Kas."

"You too, Lynn."

"It was awesome playing with you gals." Luna told the Hex Girls as each of them autographed her guitar case. "Here's hoping we can jam again soon."

"That'd be great." Thorne said with a smile. "Don't you forget us when you become famous yourself."

"Me? Forget the Hex Girls? I'd sooner forget my own head." She said with a soft laugh. "Rock on, Hex Girls!" She said, throwing up the horns.

"Rock on, Little Lu!" They replied together, raising their fists to her. Before they all got onto the bus, the entire Loud family went over to Lincoln and became part of the biggest group hug in Transylvanian history: Two parents, ten sisters, and Albert hugging the white haired boy, who tried his best to hug them all in return.

"It's great seeing you all again." Lincoln said with a big smile. "We really need to get together more often."

"I agree...though in less stressful circumstances." Rita replied, most of the family chuckling at that.

"Thanks for coming to the race, Linc." His athletic older sister said, giving him a soft, playful punch in the arm. "Really meant a lot for you to be there."

"Not even Godzilla could have kept me away." Lincoln replied with a smirk. "Sorry you have to go through all that stuff, though."

"Don't worry about it, bro. We Louds are tough. Survivors. And I'm one of the toughest there is." She boasted.

"Isn't that the truth?" He said with a chuckle, before he returned to Shaggy and the Doos.

"You lot go on ahead." Freako told Lincoln as he prepped the teleportation spell. "Me and the brothers are gonna stick around Transylvania for a bit."

"Yeah. It's been ages since our last vacation, and we've always wanted to see Transylvania." Meeko added.

"We'll just give Farquad a call when we're ready to head home."

"Like, he's still around?" Shaggy inquired, scratching his head. "I would have thought he would have left by now."

"Nah. The guy still prances around like he owns the place." The bulkiest of the ghosts explained. "But we don't mind. After all, where else are we gonna find a creepy butler?"

"And what about you two?" The scruffy man asked the two hunchbacks.

"We intend to return to and remain in retirement, Shaggy old bean." Brunch replied as he cleaned his monocle. "We've seen and caused more than enough trouble. It's time for us to take it easy for the rest of our days."

"Bleah." His mush mouthed partner agreed.

"Well, I can't say I'll be sorry to see you go…" Lynn said, kind of glaring at him. "...but...I'm not ungrateful, and you did really help, so...thanks."

"Think nothing of it, Miss Loud. Now, if you will excuse us...come Crunch, it's time to return home." Brunch said, motioning Crunch to follow.

"Blo...blhat will ble do blen we get blere?"

"I think, after everything that's happened, something fun and simple to ease our minds some. A nice, wholesome game of Rat Trap."

"Bloh bloy! I get to blet up the blrap!" Crunch declared, clapping his hands before running off ahead of the sophisticated hunchback.

"And thank you, Boo Brothers, for keeping Lynn safe all this time." Lincoln told the ghostly trio.

"No problem, Linc." Shrieko responded cheerfully. "Just glad to help her out of a hairy situation. Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk."

"Hahahaha! I like that guy. He's silly." Luan commented, pointing her thumb at the tall, thin ghost.

"If you guys ever need any help, just let me know." The white haired boy said.

"We appreciate it, kid. And just know that, if you or your family are in a jam, you can always call The Boo Brothers for some backup." Freako stated with a proud smile. "Till we meet again...come on, brothers. Let's go see the sights." He instructed as the three phantasms drifted off to enjoy their vacation.

"We better get a move on if we're going to make our flights." Thorne announced, boarding their tour bus.

"All aboard!" Dusk called out to the Loud family.

"I guess this is goodbye for now." Lincoln said, smiling lightly at his family. "Have a safe trip back home."

"You too, Lincoln." Albert said. "Take care of yourself."

"Bye Lincoln." His parents both said, shortly followed by each of his sisters. He gave them one last wave as they all boarded the tour bus before he started to recite the incantation:

"Revorateth cython Grimwood's School etorran!" The moment he finished the spell, the young man, Shaggy, and his canine friends all vanished in a flash of light, just as the Hex Girls bus drove off, headed for the airport.


	15. Chapter 15

_AN: And here we have the true final chapter of the story, just to tie up a few loose ends (and set a thing or two up for the future in Tales From Grimwood). Here's hoping you enjoyed the ride thus far._

 _I don't really plan to start a new story or series yet, with this story complete. I'd like to put a little more focus and effort on the other stories, particularly Lincoln Juice and Louds and Dragons. That said, I do have a few ideas I'd like to put on the table, see if there is interest. Let me know what you think._

 _Louds Kitchen: As a joke, Lynn Sr's friends send an application into Hell's Kitchen. Well, he ends up getting selected, giving him the opportunity to work under Chef Gordon Ramsay._

 _The Lass Called Leni: A sort of Loud House retelling of "The Man Called Flinstone". Because Leni looked like a recently injured super spy, she is sent to replace her on a mission of vital importance to her country. Will she rise to the occasion, or is the world in deep trouble?_

 _The Louds of Royal Woods: The Loud Kids as animals in a similar vein to "The Animals of Farthing Woods". With their home in Royal Woods threatened by human encroachment, the Louds and their friends from the woods decide they have to find themselves a new home._

 _That's all from me for now. May good fortune shine on you all until we meet again._

* * *

Epilogue

Within a second of casting the spell, Lincoln reappeared inside Grimwood's School, right in the entrance hall, along with his friends. Miss Grimwood was waiting for them as they teleported in, along with Sibella. Once more, the one son almost fell over from the effort of the mass teleportation, but Sibella was quick enough to catch him before he hit the ground. "Welcome back, everyone." Abigail said with a smile. "I hope everything went alright in Transylvania."

"Like, yeah, thank goodness." Shaggy answered, walking over to the headmistress. "We'll fill you in over a cup of tea and some cookies." The mystical headmistress nodded lightly to him, leading the scruffy man and the dogs off to the kitchen. Meanwhile, Sibella was helping back to the common room.

"Are you sure you should have teleported such a long way yourself?" The vampiress asked, a concerned expression on her face.

"I'm fine, Sibella. Just tired." He replied to her. "But boy do I have a lot to tell you."

"You do? Is Lynn alright? Did everything go alright at the marathon?"

"Thankfully, yes. She's back to normal now, though things got pretty intense thanks to that Rotters guy."

"Thank goodness." She said with a soft sigh of relief. "I'm sure everyone will want to hear all about it."

"I'm sure they would." The one son agreed. "Oh, I got to meet your mothers while I was there." He added, looking to the lavender skinned vampire girl.

"Did you? You got along with them, I hope." She said, a hint of worry with her words.

"We did. Verona kinda engaged me in a little staring contest for a bit at first…" That made Sibella laugh softly.

"That's just her way of getting to know someone. I'm guessing she saw in you exactly what I saw?" The one son nodded in reply.

"That's what she said." He then paused as a question came to mind. "Er...Sibella, would you mind if I asked you a question?"

"Not at all. What's on your mind?" She stopped in the hall, looking him in the eyes.

"I know your father has four wives, but...which one of them is your mother?" He inquired.

"All of them." She answered without a second's hesitation.

"I get that, but which one Is your birth mother?"

"All of them." Lincoln had a confused frown on his face as he pondered what he was doing wrong. Maybe he's wording it wrong? Meanwhile, Sibella had a grin on her face, wondering how long it would take for him to get it.

"Ok...which of Dracula's four brides...uh…gave birth to you?" He asked, his cheeks turning slightly red; a sight that delighted that daughter of Dracula.

"All of them." She repeated, her grin growing. Lincoln just blinked. How was that even possible!? He just stared at her for a moment as his brain rebooted and he reconsidered his strategy. He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, she cut him off with a "All of them." The white haired lad was detecting a pattern here.

"...that's going to be your answer to anything I ask, isn't it?" She waited for a few seconds before she simply answered.

"All of them."

"That's what I thought." He said with a defeated sigh, followed by a chuckle, Sibella bursting out into giggles. "You're lucky you're adorable."

"You love it and you know it."

"Heh. Yeah. I really do." Lincoln said with a smile, the two sharing a tender kiss before they continued on their way to the common room.

A few days later…

After such an eventful race, one would assume that anyone involved with such a marathon would take a rest. Lynn Loud Jr...actually had taken a break to rest all her muscles, if only for a day or two. But after that, it wasn't just business as usual, it was double time. She had gotten a taste of the enhanced physical abilities of being a werewolf, and now she wanted to match that as a human. It wouldn't be easy, naturally, but the headstrong sister always believed in 'No Pain, No Gain'. Today, she was punching the old heavy bag in her own backyard, assisted by her boyfriend, Francisco. After the two of them had returned home, they officially started dating.

"Talk to me." Lynn said through the phone, tossing her boxing gloves aside.

"Hey Lynn." The voice of Kaspa responded over the phone.

"Oh, hey Kas. How's life treating you?"

"Good. Good. Had to go back to school after the marathon, but it's only a few months until spring break. Should give me some time to go exploring. How about you?"

"Alright. Working harder than ever." The sporty sister replied, sitting on the back porch with Francisco. "I really want to get as strong and fast as I was as a werewolf."

"Hehe. Well, hope you aren't working so hard you can't spend some time with Franc."

"Never." She answered, the three of them laughing after. "He's right here beside me. Here, I'll put you on speaker so you two can say hi." She added, pressing a button on her phone.

"Hi Kaspa."

"Hi Francisco. Glad to hear you two are doing alright."

"So, what's new on your end?" The young man asked, putting an arm around Lynn.

"Well, that's part of why I called. Mr Rotters and Zeral's trial was today." The gorgon gal informed them.

"Really? That was fast. I was expecting it to be months before I heard anything from a legal standpoint." Lynn said in complete surprise.

"Heh. Transylvania doesn't like wasting time when it comes to that, and I'm sure Dracula pushed to speed things along."

"So, how did that go? Were you able to see it go down?"

"No. I was back home in Crete when it happened, but the Hunch Bunch and Boo Brothers were. From what they said, it was a brutal verbal beatdown." Kaspa explained, bringing a smirk to the ponytailed athlete's face. "His lawyer refused to defend him, since he couldn't pay them, so he had to defend himself. Freako said he tried to double talk his way out of it, but as soon as the doctors testified, as well as all the evidence the Count had collected during the race, neither of them stood a chance."

"Here's hoping that doctor who injected her with the werewolf blood got smacked too…" Francisco grumbled with a frown.

"I'm sure he did, though he probably cut a deal for his testimony."

"...I'll take it."

"So, what was the damage to him when all was said and done?" Lynn inquired curiously.

"The sentencing hasn't happened yet, but Mr Brunch says Mr Rotters is looking at, at minimum, sixty years. As for Zeral, he's staring down the barrel of an afterlife sentence, for two counts of attempted murder." Kaspa answered.

"Sixty years doesn't sound like a lot, especially for a ghoul…"

"Maybe not, but you have to remember that his reputation is ruined and he blew his fortune on the whole thing."

"Heh. Well, I guess that's karma enough." The once lycan girl said with a smile returning to her.

"Still, that's just predictions at this point. Perhaps it could be much worse for him. No one can say for now."

"Speaking of, whatever happened to that vampire guy?" Francisco brought up with a slightly concerned look. "He just...disappeared after that ambush…" When he mentioned Nostufaro, Lynn and Kaspa just started snickering.

Nearly halfway across the planet, well away from Transylvania, the few remaining members of the barely functional Leatherwing Clan were holed up in a cave deep in Bulgaria, along with the trolls the vampire drama star had hired for the ambush. They were tired, disorganized, and, without their leader, utterly lacking a plan. Their members were spread out all over the place with no method of contact and they had little to no money. The gang was, effectively, disbanded. The bat men were just discussing their options at this point when they found themselves with a guest. A black bat with spiky hair flapped into the cave entrance and landed among them. Within seconds, he morphed back into the form of Nostufaro, who had a scowl on his face and a strangely glassy look in his eyes. "You fools!" He yelled furiously. "You dim witted, foul smelling sons of fruit bats!" The Leatherwings flinched in surprise when the vampire teen started raging and storming at them, while the trolls just watched with slack jawed expressions.

"How did you…?"

"Nevermind that, you miserable peasants! Thanks to you, my plan was a failure, and that insolent werewolf, gorgon, and those filthy mortals probably told everyone about it!"

"Now hold on…" The pint sized flying rodent objected, rising from the rock he sat upon. "We did our job. We lured the mutt to the trap. The rest was up to you. YOU screwed up, not us." He said, pointing a clawed hand at the puffed up bloodsucker.

"How dare you!?" Nostufaro screamed right in the bat goon's face. "My plan was PERFECT except for you idiots! And I refuse to pay for such utter ineptitude!" The moment he exclaimed that, all eyes locked onto him, turning very hard and cold at him.

"So, you plan to stiff us, eh?" The shortstack bat growled, cracking his knuckles. "...bad move, pretty boy…"

"He no be pretty for long." One of the trolls grunted as every Leatherwing and giant kins converged on Nostufaro. About this time, the vampire seemed to snap out of something.

"W...what? Where am I?" He asked in confusion, then he noticed his minions around him. "What's going on!?"

"You're about to enter a world of hurt is what's going on…" The mini Leatherwing said dangerously, the TV star looking fearfully at all the brutes surrounding him and clearly VERY angry at HIM.

When Francisco heard what Kaspa had ordered Nostufaro to do, he was on his back almost breathless with laughter. "Serves the jerk right, alright." Lynn said with a vindicated smile. "Just wish I could be there to see his face when he tells them they aren't being paid."

"I'd bet it'd be priceless." Kaspa commented through the phone. "So, are you planning to take that trip to the Bermuda Triangle, Lynn?"

"Nah." She responded with a shake of her head. "A little too...out of my comfort zone."

"That's a shame...but what are you going to do with the tickets?"

"My Pop Pop is keeping one, and I donated the rest to Miss Grimwood's School. Probably an ideal field trip for them." Lynn responded, giggling softly.

"That's really generous of you."

"I'm surprised Lucy would have given up her ticket." Francisco interjected.

"You and me both. But she said something about going to Grimwood's soon...no idea what she meant by that." Lynn simply shrugged

"Sounds like she has a plan." The gorgon gal commented.

"Darned if I know what it is though. But I'm sure we'll all learn soon enough."

"I'm sure...oops. Sounds like my folks need me. I'll talk to you again later, Lynn. Bye Francisco."

"Bye Kaspa." The young man replied.

"See you later, Kas." Lynn said before her serpentine friend hung up. "Man...a good workout, with a great guy with me, a nice chat with my new best friend, and I hear that creep got his just desserts. Can this day get any better?" She asked, leaning back against the back stairs with a big smile on her face.

"Hmmmm. I think I know a way it can." Francisco answered with a sly smile. The sports star turned her head to look at her boyfriend in curiosity, his face inches from hers. She looked at him for a moment, then grinned as she got his drift and closed the short distance for a sweet, soft kiss.


End file.
